Language disorder in schizophrenia as a developmental learning disorder.

Receptive language disorder in schizophrenia is hypothesized to represent a learning disorder that involves a neurodevelopmental etiology. It is argued that a preexisting developmental language disorder may characterize a subset of schizophrenia patients. A primary deficit in the temporal dynamics of brain function is assumed to cause receptive language disorder in schizophrenia. This hypothesized core deficit includes both disturbance in the processing of rapid, sequential information and disruptions to patterns of brain activation and synchronization. These timing deficits may alter the way associative connections are formed and/or accessed in semantic memory. It is suggested that abnormalities in second-messenger pathways of subcortical-cortical circuitry offer an etiological nexus for language dysfunction in schizophrenia and developmental dyslexia.