IN-VIVO MORPHOMETRY OF PLANUM TEMPORALE ASYMMETRY IN FIRST-EPISODE SCHIZOPHRENIA

Magnetic resonance imaging is a promising tool for in vivo analysis of the neuropathology underlying schizophrenia. One of the most consistent features emerging from the majority of published studies is the lateralization of pathological findings, and this has led to hypotheses of impaired hemispheric specialization in schizophrenia. In previous work, we have validated morphometry of supratemporal language-related cortex using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging and analyzed the relation of the so defined planum temporale to functional parameters of hemispheric specialization. In the present study, we examined planum temporale structural asymmetry in first-episode schizophrenics. Asymmetry coefficients obtained in these patients did not differ significantly from those in equally right-handed controls and were not correlated to standard psychopathological measures. These data are contrasted with other studies reporting lateralized brain pathology in schizophrenia with special emphasis on methodological considerations in neuroimaging procedures.