Abstract
The macroscopic study of the postmortem brain in schizophrenia has revealed changes in area, volume and shape measures in several cortical and subcortical regions. There seems to be an overall subtle reduction of whole brain volume (about 3%), accompanied by increased area/volume of the ventricular system and a more regionalised volume loss in the temporal lobe, especially the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex (about 5–10%). Looking at other cortical regions the frontal and parietal lobe reveal changes which are more subtle compared to the temporal cortex. Subcortically the thalamus demonstrates volume reduction (about 10–15%) comparable to limbic system structures. Beside this the cerebellum and the basal ganglia show volume/area changes awaiting replication. Although the introduction of structural imaging has been very helpful in replicating and enlarging on these macroscopic findings, imaging will never replace postmortem studies because of its limited resolution and refusing access to the microscopic neurobiology of schizophrenia.
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Falkai, P. (2002). Macroanatomical Findings in Postmortem Brain Tissue from Schizophrenic Patients. In: Agam, G., Everall, I.P., Belmaker, R.H. (eds) The Postmortem Brain in Psychiatric Research. Neurobiological Foundation of Aberrant Behaviors, vol 4. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3631-1_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3631-1_9
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