REDUCTION OF CORTICAL VOLUME IN SCHIZOPHRENIA ON MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING

The MRI scans of 48 schizophrenic patients, fulfilling RDC criteria, w ere compared to those of 34 healthy controls matched for age, ethnicit y and parental social class. The volume of the frontal and anterior pa rietal lobes was significantly reduced in the schizophrenic group as a result of a selective decrease in cortical volume, with a correspondi ng increase in the volume of sulcal fluid. Reduction in the volume of the temporal grey matter was more marked on the right, but was not in excess of the loss of volume observed in other areas of the cortex. MR I abnormalities correlated poorly with clinical parameters, although b oth unemployment and poor pre-morbid adjustment predicted reduced cere bral volume and increased sulcal volume. These results question whethe r the medial temporal lobes are the only site of structural pathology in schizophrenia.