A profile of cortical gray matter volume deficits characteristic of schizophrenia

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies from our laboratoryhave reported that patients with schizophrenia show a widespread corticalgray matter volume deficit, which is especially pronounced in theprefrontal and anterior superior temporal cortices. The present studycompared two separate samples of schizophrenic patients -- 71 men from aVeterans Administration (VA) hospital and a sample of 57 severely ill menfrom a state hospital (SH) -- in an effort to test whether the pattern ofbrain volume abnormalities previously observed in VA schizophrenic patientscan be generalized to other groups of schizophrenic patients. MRI-derivedbrain volumes of gray matter, white matter and sulcal cerebrospinal fluid(CSF) in six cortical regions, and CSF in the lateral and third ventricleswere computed. All MRI volumes were adjusted for normal variation in headsize and age and were expressed as standardized Z-scores, which alsopermitted structures of different sizes to be compared directly. The twoschizophrenic groups displayed similar patterns of volume abnormalities:cortical gray matter but not white matter volume deficits that werewidespread but especially notable in the prefrontal and temporal regions.The regional gray matter deficits in the SH group were generally greaterthan those in the VA group, particularly in the prefrontal and posteriorsuperior temporal regions. Both schizophrenic groups had abnormally largevolumes of the cortical sulci and lateral and third ventricles; however,the SH group showed greater enlargements, the most prominent occurring inthe ventricles and temporal sulci. The overlapping patterns of corticalgray matter deficits in the two groups provide evidence for generality ofthis pattern of regional brain volume abnormalities in schizophrenia.