title: Association of formal thought disorder in schizophrenia with structural brain abnormalities in language-related cortical regions.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Formal thought disorder (FTD) in schizophrenia has been found to be associated with volume reductions in the left superior temporal cortex. However, there have been negative findings and some studies have also found associations in other cortical regions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-one schizophrenic patients were evaluated for presence of FTD with the Thought, Language and Communication (TLC) scale and underwent whole-brain structural MRI using optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Fifty-nine matched healthy controls were also scanned.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to 31 patients without FTD (global TLC rating 0 or 1), 20 patients with FTD (global TLC rating 2-5) showed clusters of volume reduction in the medial frontal and orbitofrontal cortex bilaterally, and in two left-sided areas approximating to Broca's and Wernicke's areas. The pattern of FTD-associated volume reductions was largely different from that found in a comparison between the healthy controls and the patients without FTD. Analysis of correlations within regions-of-interest based on the above clusters indicated that the 'fluent disorganization' component of FTD was correlated with volume reductions in both Broca's and Wernicke's areas, whereas poverty of content of speech was correlated with reductions in the medial frontal/orbitofrontal cortex.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings point to a relationship between FTD in schizophrenia and structural brain pathology in brain areas involved in language and executive function.
authors.affiliation: FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sans-Sansa
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: McKenna
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Canales-Rodríguez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ortiz-Gil
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: López-Araquistain
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarró
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Dueñas
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blanch
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salvador
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pomarol-Clotet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013850:Thinking