Neurocognitive and neurophysiological endophenotypes in Schizophrenia: an overview

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a severe psychotic disorder that affects up to 1% of the US population and it is associated with progressive impairment in social functioning and cognition. Nonetheless, despite its high burden, the pathophysiology of SCZ, including the genetic and biological mechanisms underlying the development and manifestation of the disorder, remains largely elusive. Endophenotypes are subtypes of biological markers that are more closely related to the genetic vulnerability for a disorder (e.g., SCZ). Recently, research on endophenotypes has identified several parameters that may prove useful in shedding light over the underlying neurobiology of SCZ. In this article, we provide an overview of the most established SCZ endophenotypes in the domains of neurocognition (attention deficits, working and verbal declarative memory dysfunctions) and neurophysiology (pre-pulse inhibition, anti-saccade impairment, event-related potential deficits) along with some novel, sleep-based measures (reduced sleep spindles and sleep slow waves). We also discuss recent conceptual advances in the field that may lead to novel, personalized treatment interventions for patients affected by this devastating mental illness.