Structural brain imaging abnormalities associated with schizophrenia and partial trisomy of chromosome 5

Chromosomal abnormalities occurring in association with mental illness provide a unique opportunity to study the interaction of genetic abnormalities and the brain in mental illness. Four individuals from a family in which schizophrenia was found to cosegregate with a partial trisomy of chromosome 5 were studied with computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Temporal lobe atrophy was found in the two trisomic males and in the asymptomatic balanced translocation female. In addition, a large cavum septum pellucidum and a cavum vergae were found in the older trisomic individual. Scans from the normal male were free of abnormalities. These results suggest that molecular studies of the translocation breakpoints in this chromosomal abnormality may be of interest, and encourage further studies of brain structure in other chromosomal abnormalities associated with psychosis.