As EOS become symptomatic during a critical period for major changes in the neural systems (Paus et al., 2008), and genetic risk factors play a more salient role in EOS (Guo et al., 2021), the regulation of neuronal development by NKAPL may be part of the factors affecting cognitive function in early-onset schizophrenia. This evidence concerns the gene NKAPL and schizophrenia.