Welcome to the 21st WCP Virtual Congress Program Scheduling

The last decade has brought significant advances in our knowledge about schizophrenia and other psychosis. However, most studies are based in high-income countries, with few studies coming from regions such as Latin America. In this symposium, members from the multinational ANDES consortium that studies psychosis in Latin America, will argue for the benefit of studying psychosis in diverse populations and settings such as this region. First, Dr. Clarissa Gama from Brazil will discuss the effect on cognition of becoming unwell with psychosis in deprived environments such as those found in Latin America, where poverty and poor schooling is unfortunately frequent. She will present the cognitive profile of 814 patients from five Latin American countries and 311 healthy controls, and their association with environmental variables. Dr. Crossley from Chile will follow discussing the modulatory effect of living in poverty and among violence on brain structure in schizophrenia, showing imaging data from 334 patients and 262 healthy controls from Latin America. Finally, Dr. Díaz-Zuluaga from Colombia will argue for the benefit of studying the genetic of psychosis and mood disorders in Latino population. She will present the current Paisa Project and other ongoing genetic studies examining the genetics of severe mental illness in a genetically-isolated population in Colombia, the “Paisa” population. We will finally discuss the value of studying psychosis in diverse settings and populations.