Treatment of first-episode schizophrenia: pharmacological and neurobiological aspects

The treatment and understanding of first-episode schizophrenia belongs to the greatest challenges in clinical psychiatry and psychiatric research. Antipsychotic drugs revolutionised the therapy of schizophrenia since their first introduction in the 1950s. However, there are still unsolved questions about an evidence-based and improved treatment of first-episode patients, which neurobiological and clinical studies can help answering.