Superior temporal gyrus in schizophrenia: a volumetric magnetic resonance imaging study

The left superior temporal gyrus (STG) has been reported to be smaller in p atients with schizophrenia. The volume of the STG has been found to correla te negatively with severity of hallucinations and thought disorder. In this study, we measured the STG volume of 20 normal controls and 20 patients wi th schizophrenia using 3 mm contiguous coronal T1 magnetic resonance images . We found that patients had a significantly smaller left anterior STG, and that the volume of this region negatively correlated with the severity of hallucinations. The left posterior STG was not significantly smaller in pat ients than in controls, but its volume negatively correlated with severity of thought disorder. We also found that the left anterior STG was smaller t han the right STG in patients but not in controls. The STG has at least thr ee histologically distinct areas, each with different connections to the re st of the brain. These data are consistent with the proposition that dysfun ction of the primary auditory cortex in the anterior and middle STG and aud itory association cortex in the posterior STG may play a role in the produc tion of auditory perceptual abnormalities and poor organization of thought respectively. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.