Neurological soft signs and subcortical brain morphology in recent onset schizophrenia.
BACKGROUND
Minor motor and sensory deficits or neurological soft signs (NSS) are frequently found in patients with schizophrenia at any stage of their illness. The thalamus and basal ganglia are accepted as being important for both motor control and integration of sensory input. However, whether NSS are related to alterations of these brain regions remains controversial.


METHODS
Twenty patients with recent onset schizophrenia were investigated using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 Tesla. NSS were examined on the Heidelberg Scale after remission of acute symptoms and related to both volumetric and shape measurements of thalamus, caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus, respectively. Age, education, medication and duration of illness were considered as potential confounders.


RESULTS
NSS were associated with structural alterations predominantly in the thalamus, the left caudate nucleus, and in the right globus pallidus. According to shape analyses these associations referred to regionally specific morphometric alterations rather than to global atrophy of the respective structures.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings provide new insights into the association of NSS with brain morphometric alterations and lend further support to an involvement of multiple subcortical regions in schizophrenia.
Structural Neuroimaging Group, Department of General Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany. dusan.hirjak@med.uni-heidelberg.de
Dusan
D
Hirjak
Robert C
RC
Wolf
Bram
B
Stieltjes
Ulrich
U
Seidl
Johannes
J
Schröder
Philipp A
PA
Thomann
D000328:Adult; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult