title: Neuropsychological functioning in MRI-derived subgroups of schizophrenia.
abstract: This study examined neuropsychological functioning in two subgroups of patients with familial schizophrenia. Those who showed evidence of progressive ventricular enlargement observed across serial MRI scans (n=6) were compared with subjects whose ventricular volume remained static (n=10) over an average of 28 months. No differences were found in terms of age, education, ethnicity, level of psychotic symptomatology, DSM-IV subtype, age of onset, or duration of illness. Neurocognitively, the static ventricle group was impaired across more cognitive domains and had a larger percentage of subjects falling into the impaired range on a majority of measures, with the greatest differences on measures of attention (p<0.02) and nonverbal memory (p<0.07). These results suggest that clinically meaningful differences between these two MRI-derived subgroups of patients with schizophrenia may exist, and further underscore the heterogeneity of the illness.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
authors.forename: I J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Osuji
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McGarrahan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mihalakos
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Garver
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kingsbury
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Cullum
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000473:pathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003710:Demography; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index