Disturbed planum temporale asymmetry in schizophrenia. A quantitative post-mortem study

The planum temporale of the temporal cortex was investigated post-mortem in 24 schizophrenic patients and 24 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Schizophrenic patients demonstrated a 20% volume reduction of the left planum temporale (p = 0.032), whereas on the right side, there was a trend for increase in male schizophrenics (+22%, p = 0.17), while in female patients the volume was moderately decreased (-6%, p = 0.74). The mean anterior-posterior diameter of the planum temporale was significantly reduced in the left hemisphere (-20%, p = 0.008), but unchanged on the right side. The asymmetry coefficients (Galaburda et al. (1987) Neuropsychologia 25, 853-868) for the planum temporale cortex volume (p = 0.02) and anterior-posterior diameter (p = 0.002) but not for mean area (p = 0.61) were significantly different between schizophrenics and control subjects. These data support the idea of disturbed cerebral laterality in schizophrenia. The implications of methodology and patient samples are discussed.

[1]  J. Beaumont.  Cerebral Lateralization: Biological Mechanisms, Associations, and Pathology , 1987 .

[2]  Lutz Jäncke,et al.  Anatomical left‐right asymmetry of language‐related temporal cortex is different in left‐ and right‐handers , 1991, Annals of neurology.

[3]  T. Crow.  Temporal lobe asymmetries as the key to the etiology of schizophrenia. , 1990, Schizophrenia bulletin.

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

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

[6]  P. Satz,et al.  Is there atypical handedness in schizophrenia? , 1989, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[7]  M. Tsuang,et al.  The role of gender in identifying subtypes of schizophrenia: a latent class analytic approach. , 1990, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[8]  Y. Burns,et al.  HANDEDNESS IN CHILDREN WITH BIRTHWEIGHTS BELOW 1000 g , 1987, The Lancet.

[9]  S. Lewis.  Sex and Schizophrenia: Vive la Différence , 1992, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[10]  S. F. Witelson,et al.  Sylvian fissure morphology and asymmetry in men and women: Bilateral differences in relation to handedness in men , 1992, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[11]  R. Murray,et al.  The neurodevelopmental basis of sex differences in schizophrenia , 1991, Psychological Medicine.

[12]  G. Ross,et al.  Hand Preference Of Four‐Year‐Old Children: Its Relationship To Premature Birth And Neurodevelopmental Outcome , 1987, Developmental medicine and child neurology.

[13]  B. Bogerts,et al.  Basal Ganglia and Limbic System Pathology in Schizophrenia: A Morphometric Study of Brain Volume and Shrinkage , 1985 .

[14]  B. Bogerts,et al.  The neuropathology of schizophrenia: past and present. , 1993, Journal fur Hirnforschung.

[15]  Douglas W. Jones,et al.  Sylvian fissure asymmetries in monozygotic twins: A test of laterality in schizophrenia , 1993, Biological Psychiatry.

[16]  J. Lieberman,et al.  Yakovlevian torque is absent in first episode schizophrenia , 1993, Schizophrenia Research.

[17]  W. Iacono,et al.  Where are the women in first-episode studies of schizophrenia? , 1992, Schizophrenia bulletin.

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

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

[20]  Alessandro Rossi,et al.  Planum temporale asymmetry and thought disorder in schizophrenia , 1994, Schizophrenia Research.

[21]  Glenn D. Rosen,et al.  Planum temporale asymmetry, reappraisal since Geschwind and Levitsky , 1987, Neuropsychologia.

[22]  P. Flor-Henry,et al.  Imbalance of hemispheric functions in the major psychoses: A study of handedness in the People's Republic of China , 1985, Biological Psychiatry.

[23]  L. DeLisi,et al.  Asymmetries in the superior temporal lobe in male and female first-episode schizophrenic patients: measures of the planum temporale and superior temporal gyrus by MRI , 1994, Schizophrenia Research.

[24]  H. Nasrallah,et al.  Gender differences in schizophrenia on MRI brain scans. , 1990, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[25]  R. Oades,et al.  Schizophrenia: Empirical Research and Findings , 1992 .

[26]  P. Stratta,et al.  Planum temporale in schizophrenia: a magnetic resonance study , 1992, Schizophrenia Research.

[27]  R. Gur,et al.  Magnetic resonance imaging in schizophrenia. I. Volumetric analysis of brain and cerebrospinal fluid. , 1991, Archives of general psychiatry.

[28]  M. Owen,et al.  Low birth weight and a family history of schizophrenia predict poor premorbid functioning in psychosis , 1991, Schizophrenia Research.

[29]  J A Wada,et al.  Cerebral hemispheric asymmetry in humans. Cortical speech zones in 100 adults and 100 infant brains. , 1975, Archives of neurology.

[30]  N. Geschwind,et al.  Cerebral lateralization. Biological mechanisms, associations, and pathology: I. A hypothesis and a program for research. , 1985, Archives of neurology.

[31]  P. Falkai,et al.  In vivo morphometry of planum temporale asymmetry in first-episode schizophrenia , 1994, Schizophrenia Research.

[32]  B. Bogerts,et al.  Post-mortem volume measurements of limbic system and basal ganglia structures in chronic schizophrenics Initial results from a new brain collection , 1990, Schizophrenia Research.

[33]  L. DeLisi,et al.  Anomalous lateral sulcus asymmetry and cognitive function in first-episode schizophrenia. , 1992, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[34]  G D Pearlson,et al.  Auditory hallucinations and smaller superior temporal gyral volume in schizophrenia. , 1990, The American journal of psychiatry.