Cumulative effect of anatomical risk factors for schizophrenia: an MRI study.
BACKGROUND
Although schizophrenic and control subjects differ on a variety of neuroanatomical measures, the specificity and sensitivity of any one measure for differentiating between groups are low. This study investigated the cumulative effect of deviant brain structure on diagnosis.


METHODS
Hemisphere and third ventricle volume and the normalized (Talairach) location of three association cortex sulcal landmarks were measured on high-resolution MRI scans in 37 male patients with schizophrenia and 33 male control subjects matched on age, handedness, and parental socioeconomic status.


RESULTS
While there were few group differences on individual anatomical measures, the 10 variables reliably discriminated between the two groups when used in concert in a discriminant function analysis (F[10.59] = 3.6, p < .0009) with 77% of the subjects correctly classified. Five of the measures (left posterior cingulate, left inferior frontal sulcus, right sylvian fissure, and left and right halves of the third ventricle) correlated significantly with the discriminant function (p < .005).


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first study to demonstrate that schizophrenics can be distinguished from matched controls on the basis of brain anatomy alone. The risk of schizophrenia may depend on the total amount of neural deviance, rather than on anomalies in a single structure or circuit.
Leonard
C M
CM
Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.
Kuldau
J M
JM
Breier
J I
JI
Zuffante
P A
PA
Gautier
E R
ER
Heron
D C
DC
Lavery
E M
EM
Packing
J
J
Williams
S A
SA
DeBose
C A
CA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000002:abnormalities*; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000002:abnormalities; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors