These considerations seem to preclude, at least for the time being, a radical restructuring of psychiatric classification from a predominantly categorical to a predominantly

dimensional model. Moreover, categorical and dimensional models need not be mutually exclusive, as demonstrated by so-called mixed or class-quantitative models84 which combine qualitative categories with quantitative trait measurements. For example, there is increasing empirical evidence that should make it attractive Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to supplement a retained (and refined) categorical clinical description of the syndrome of schizophrenia with selected quantitative traits such as attention or memory dysfunction and volumetric deviance of cerebral structures. Endophenotypes in schizophrenia Amidst growing doubts in the capacity of the Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical broad diagnostic category to serve as a reliable phenotype for gene discovery,85 the concept of endophenotypes (intermediate, elementary, alternative, or correlated phenotypes) offered a novel perspective on subtyping schizophrenia Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical that could be either an alternative

or a complement to symptom-based phenotypes. The term was introduced into schizophrenia genetics by Gottesman and Shields.86 As “measurable components unseen by the unaided eye along the pathway between Selleckchem Thiazovivin disease and distal genotype,•87 endophenotypes are expected to be: (i) associated with the clinical disorder but not part of its diagnosis; (ii) heritable; (iii) state-independent (ie, present before the

onset of active illness or during remissions); (iv) cosegregating Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical with illness in Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical families; and (v) found in unaffected family members at a higher rate than in the general population.88 Earlier expectations, eg, that endophenotypes would have a simpler genetic architecture, now appear as unrealistic. An important requirement, however, is that an endophenotype should be a represented by a quantitatively measurable trait. In schizophrenia secondly research, an increasing number of endophenotypes, mainly related to psychophysiological, brain imaging, and cognitive measures, are being explored (Table VI). Table VI Table VI. DSM-IV-TR Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.72 Cognitive dysfunction as an endophenotype Cognitive deficits are now widely accepted as a core feature of schizophrenia, rather than an epiphenomenon of the illness state.89,90 Deficits in multiple cognitive domains predate the onset of clinical symptoms91-93; are not attributable to antipsychotic medications94; persist over the course of the illness and are unrelated to its duration95,96; and represent a stable trait.