A QUANTITATIVE MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING STUDY OF PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

Twenty patients with schizophrenia and ten normal control subjects und erwent magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. The volumes of several brain structures were measured using a computer image analysing syste m. The schizophrenic patients had significantly smaller left parahippo campal volume and larger left temporal horn volume than the control su bjects. A larger body of the right lateral ventricle could be estimate d in the schizophrenics, but this difference was not significant. In t he patient group a non-significant negative correlation was establishe d between the presence of positive symptoms and the left temporal horn volume. There was no significant correlation between the temporal hor n and temporal lobe or medial temporal structures. Our results indicat e that the left medial temporal structure or left temporal lobe may be involved in schizophrenia and that temporal horn enlargement does not simply represent volume loss of the surrounding tissue.