Schizophrenia with onset after age 50 years 2: Neurological, neuropsychological and MRI investigation

Background Late-onset schizophrenia (LOS) may have a basis in age-related c oarse brain disease. but empirical support for this is conflicting. Aims Is LOS characterised by more neurological disease than early-onset sch izophrenia (EOS)? Method DSM-III-R-defined LOS subjects (n=27) were compared with 30 EOS and 34 volunteer control subjects on neurological status, neuropsychological te st performance and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results LOS and EOS groups had more 'soft' neurological signs and drug-indu ced movement abnormalities, and performed more poorly on tests assessing sp eed of information processing, memory and frontal executive functioning. On MRI, the LOS and EOS groups had greater lateral ventricular size than the control group. The LOS subjects also had more signal hyperintensities in pe riventricular white matter and subcortical nuclei than controls. Conclusions LOS and EOS subjects were very similar on neuropsychological, n eurological and structural neuroimaging parameters, except thatt here were more MRI periventricular hyperintensities in LOS subjects. Declaration of interest The study was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and The Rebecca Cooper Foundation.