It has been reported that scientists have identified what they believe may the early signs of schizophrenia in the brains of children shortly after birth.

The discovery, according to researchers, could lead to earlier detection of the mental disorder and enable better prevention and treatment.

According to researchers, most cases of schizophrenia aren't detected until a person starts experiencing symptoms like delusions and hallucinations as a teenager or adult. By that time, the disease has often progressed so far that it can be difficult to treat.

Now, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Columbia University have provided the first evidence that brain abnormalities associated with schizophrenia risk are detectable in babies only a few weeks old.

Lead study author John H. Gilmore, professor of psychiatry and director of the UNC Schizophrenia Research Center, said, "It allows us to start thinking about how we can identify kids at risk for schizophrenia very early and whether there things that we can do very early on to lessen the risk."

It has further been reported that the scientists used ultrasound and MRI to examine brain development in 26 babies born to mothers with schizophrenia. Having a first- degree relative with the disease raises a person''s risk of schizophrenia to one in 10.

Among boys, the high-risk babies had larger brains and larger lateral ventricles-fluid-filled spaces in the brain-than babies of mothers with no psychiatric illness.

Gilmore speculated, "Could it be that enlargement is an early marker of a brain that's going to be different?" Larger brain size in infants is also associated with autism. (With Inputs from Agencies)