Brain volume and dysexecutive behavior in schizophrenia

Behaviors associated with frontal/executive impairments are common in patients with schizophrenia. Our aim was to reconfirm that morphological brain abnormalities in schizophrenia patients would overlap the areas underpinning frontal systems behavior, and examine whether any specific association exists between abnormalities of brain structures and frontal behavioral deficits in schizophrenia patients.

Twenty-six schizophrenia patients and 26 matched healthy controls underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging and their frontal function was assessed by a self-rating questionnaire, Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe). We applied voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to investigate regional brain volume alternations.

Compared with healthy controls, schizophrenia patients showed reduced gray matter volume in multiple frontal and temporal structures, namely, the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (DLPFC), bilateral medial prefrontal cortices, left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, bilateral anterior cingulate cortices, and bilateral superior temporal gyri. The scores on the executive dysfunction subscale of the FrSBe were correlated with volume reduction in the bilateral DLPFC in the patient group.

Our result suggests that pathology of the DLPFC could be the neural basis of real-life dysexecutive behaviors in schizophrenia patients.