compounds, nicotine, alcohol, and stress, as well as agents of infection have also been investigated quite extensively and have been shown to contribute to the etiopathogenesis of serious neuropsychiatric disorders.54 All of these agents have a deleterious influence on developmental processes during the time when the brain experiences major changes in early childhood and during adulthood. Several of these agents have contributed to the structural and functional brain abnormalities that have been observed in the biomarker profiles of schizophrenia and fetal alcohol syndrome. The effects of these agents are generally permanent and irreversible.54
