Anomalous lateral sulcus asymmetry and cognitive function in first-episode schizophrenia.

This study examines the cognitive functioning of first-episode schizophreniform patients within several weeks of hospitalization and at 2 years into the illness. Differences between patients and controls are also reported for measurements of the length of the lateral sulcus, which borders the planum temporal, an area of the brain integral to language function. Neuropsychological test results are also correlated to magnetic resonance imaging structural variables at the time of first hospitalization. Findings on neuropsychological summary scales reveal a diffuse pattern of cognitive impairment in schizophreniform patients compared to controls, which appears to improve over time. An atypical pattern of anatomic lateral symmetry is found in female schizophreniform patients, with female appearing to have a reduction in the normally occurring left greater than right length of the lateral sulcus. Such atypical asymmetry of the lateral sulcus is also associated with better cognitive function, particularly in schizophreniform patients. These findings suggest that atypical lateralization in an area critical to language function may be related to cognitive function in schizophreniform illness.

[1]  M. Taylor,et al.  Lateralized neuropsychological dysfunction in affective disorder and schizophrenia. , 1979, The American journal of psychiatry.

[2]  Larry A. Harris,et al.  Woodcock reading mastery tests: Woodcock, R. Circle Pines, Minn.: American Guidance Service, 1974. Form A or B: $18 , 1976 .

[3]  M. Taylor,et al.  Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. , 1984, The American journal of psychiatry.

[4]  L. DeLisi,et al.  10. Cross-sectional and longitudinal neuropsychological test findings in first episode schizophrenic patients , 1991, Schizophrenia Research.

[5]  Peter Falkai,et al.  Loss of sylvian fissure asymmetry in schizophrenia A quantitative post mortem study , 1992, Schizophrenia Research.

[6]  Lutz Jäncke,et al.  Total surface of temporoparietal intrasylvian cortex: Diverging left-right asymmetries , 1990, Brain and Language.

[7]  L. Major,et al.  A comprehensive study of chronic schizophrenic patients: II: Biological, neuropsychological, and clinical correlates of CT abnormality , 1986, Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica.

[8]  R. Reitan,et al.  Clinical neuropsychology: Current status and applications. , 1974 .

[9]  Joseph E. Schwartz,et al.  Brain morphology in first-episode schizophrenic-like psychotic patients: A quantitative magnetic resonance imaging study , 1991, Biological Psychiatry.

[10]  R. Gur.  Cognitive concomitants of hemispheric dysfunction in schizophrenia. , 1979, Archives of general psychiatry.

[11]  R. Bilder,et al.  Symptomatic and neuropsychological components of defect states. , 1985, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[12]  H. Sackeim,et al.  Neuropsychological deterioration and CT scan findings in chronic schizophrenia , 1988, Schizophrenia Research.

[13]  N. Geschwind,et al.  Human Brain: Cytoarchitectonic Left-Right Asymmetries in the Temporal Speech Region , 1978 .

[14]  S. Galderisi,et al.  Clinical and neuropsychological correlates of cerebral ventricular enlargement in schizophrenia. , 1985, Journal of psychiatric research.

[15]  I. Whishaw,et al.  Performance of schizophrenic patients on tests sensitive to left or right frontal, temporal, or parietal function in neurological patients. , 1983, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[16]  T. Crow,et al.  Loss of sylvian fissure asymmetry in schizophrenia: Findings in the runwell 2 series of brains , 1992, Schizophrenia Research.

[17]  T. Crow,et al.  CEREBRAL VENTRICULAR SIZE AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN CHRONIC SCHIZOPHRENIA , 1976, The Lancet.

[18]  D L Braff,et al.  The generalized pattern of neuropsychological deficits in outpatients with chronic schizophrenia with heterogeneous Wisconsin Card Sorting Test results. , 1991, Archives of general psychiatry.

[19]  C. Golden,et al.  Cross-validation of the ability of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery to differentiate chronic schizophrenics with and without ventricular enlargement. , 1982, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[20]  N. Geschwind,et al.  Human Brain: Left-Right Asymmetries in Temporal Speech Region , 1968, Science.

[21]  D. Weinberger,et al.  Physiologic dysfunction of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia. I. Regional cerebral blood flow evidence. , 1986, Archives of general psychiatry.

[22]  Lynn E. DeLisi,et al.  The timing of brain morphological changes in schizophrenia and their relationship to clinical outcome , 1992, Biological Psychiatry.

[23]  R. Heaton.  Wisconsin Card Sorting Test manual , 1993 .

[24]  L. DeLisi,et al.  Familial thyroid disease and delayed language development in first admission patients with schizophrenia , 1991, Psychiatry Research.

[25]  R. Faber,et al.  Language Dysfunction in Schizophrenia , 1981, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[26]  J. Gruzelier,et al.  Impairments on neuropsychologic tests of temporohippocampal and frontohippocampal functions and word fluency in remitting schizophrenia and affective disorders. , 1988, Archives of general psychiatry.

[27]  R. Gur,et al.  Left hemisphere dysfunction and left hemisphere overactivation in schizophrenia. , 1978, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[28]  J. Larsen,et al.  Magnetic resonance imaging ‐ a method of studying the size and asymmetry of the planum temporale , 1989, Acta neurologica Scandinavica.

[29]  P. Satz,et al.  An abbreviation of the WAIS for clinical use. , 1962, Journal of clinical psychology.

[30]  J. Overall,et al.  The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale , 1962 .

[31]  K Zilles,et al.  Cerebral asymmetry: MR planimetry of the human planum temporale. , 1989, Journal of computer assisted tomography.

[32]  T. Goldberg,et al.  Further evidence for dementia of the prefrontal type in schizophrenia? A controlled study of teaching the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. , 1987, Archives of general psychiatry.

[33]  D. Weinberger,et al.  Cognitive Impairment Associated with Morphological Brain Abnormalities on Computed Tomography in Chronic Schizophrenic Patients , 1980, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[34]  Pierre Flor-Henry,et al.  Hemisphere asymmetries of function in psychopathology , 1979 .

[35]  J. Sweeney,et al.  Evaluation of the stability of neuropsychological functioning after acute episodes of schizophrenia: One-year followup study , 1991, Psychiatry Research.