Stereological quantitation in cerebella from people with schizophrenia

Background Behavioural and anatomical studies in schizophrenia have pointed to cerebellar involvement. Aims To provide stereological estimations of volumes and cell number in the cerebella of people with schizophrenia and a control group using post-mortem material. Method Stereological methods were applied to cerebella taken from eight male patients with a DSM–III diagnosis of chronic schizophrenia with no neurological disorder (mean age 57.5 years) and ten male controls (mean age 56.2 years). The Cavalieri principle was used to provide estimates of volumes, the optical disector method to obtain estimates of the numerical density of Purkinje and granule cells, and a combination of the two to obtain estimates of total cell numbers in the cerebellum. The rotator method was applied to obtain estimates of mean Purkinje cell volume. Results No global structural difference in major volumes, cell numbers or Purkinje cell volume was found between the groups. Conclusions The most frequently reported pathological finding in the cerebellum in schizophrenia is vermal atrophy, which was not found in this small group of heavily affected patients.