SUPERIOR TEMPORAL GYRUS AND THE COURSE OF EARLY SCHIZOPHRENIA - PROGRESSIVE, STATIC, OR REVERSIBLE

Accumulating evidence suggests alterations in brain structure, especia lly in the prefrontal and temporal cortex, in schizophrenia. Previous studies examining the progression of brain structural alterations in s chizophrenia have led to conflicting results. Morphometric studies of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) volumes were conducted in a series;o f neuroleptic-naive first-episode schizophrenic patients, non-schizoph renic first-episode psychotic patients, and matched healthy controls. Three-dimensional MRI scans were carried out in these subjects before and after one year of treatment. Volume reductions were seen at baseli ne in the left superior temporal gyrus (adjusted for intracranial volu me) in both of the patient groups. Pretreatment illness duration was i nversely related to the volume of the left superior temporal gyrus; th is relation was confined to males. One-year follow-up MRI investigatio ns in a smaller subset of patients suggested that the STG volume reduc tions may be reversible. No significant changes were noted in the STG volumes in matched healthy controls who were also scanned at baseline as well as at one-year follow-up. These findings have implications for understanding the nature of the neuropathological processes in early schizophrenia, as well as the potential impact of early treatment. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.