Structural Brain Deficits in Schizophrenia. Identification by Computed Tomographic Scan Density Measurements.

Author(s)

Charles J. Golden, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Benjamin Graber
Jeffrey Coffman
Richard A. Berg
David B. Newlin
Solomon Bloch

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Archives of General Psychiatry

ISSN

0003-990X

Publication Date

9-1981

Abstract

Research has suggested the presence of brain damage as a cause or concomitant of chronic schizophrenia. The most recent research in this area has been the identification of abnormalities in schizophrenia by computed tomographic (CT) scans. A study was done to investigate localized changes in CT scan density numbers in the brains of schizophrenic patients, as opposed to the brains in normal control subjects. Twenty-four normal subjects and 23 schizophrenic patients were tested with CT scans. Density measurements in each area of the brain (left, right, anterior and posterior) were compared to three separate CT scan levels. Of six measurements of anterior left-hemisphere density, it was found that five showed lower density in schizophrenic brains, as compared with normal brains. Of the remaining 18 measurements that evaluated other areas of the brain, only three differentiated between schizophrenic patients and normal subjects. The results support the hypothesis that there are primary structural deficits in some schizophrenic patients, and these deficits are centered in and around the anterior area of the left (dominant) hemisphere. The results also demonstrated further implications.

DOI

10.1001/archpsyc.1981.01780340066008

Volume

38

Issue

9

First Page

1014

Last Page

1017

NSUWorks Citation

Golden, C. J., Graber, B., Coffman, J., Berg, R. A., Newlin, D. B., Bloch, S. (1981). Structural Brain Deficits in Schizophrenia. Identification by Computed Tomographic Scan Density Measurements.. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38(9), 1014-1017.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/772