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Updated: May 25, 2026

Standardized Data Acquisition for Neuromelanin-Sensitive Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Substantia Nigra
Published on: September 8, 2021
Neurological soft signs and subcortical brain morphology in recent onset schizophrenia
Dusan Hirjak1, Robert C Wolf, Bram Stieltjes
1Structural Neuroimaging Group, Department of General Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany. dusan.hirjak@med.uni-heidelberg.de
Background:
Minor motor and sensory deficits or neurological soft signs (NSS) are frequently found in patients with schizophrenia at any stage of their illness. The thalamus and basal ganglia are accepted as being important for both motor control and integration of sensory input. However, whether NSS are related to alterations of these brain regions remains controversial.
Method:
Twenty patients with recent onset schizophrenia were investigated using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 Tesla. NSS were examined on the Heidelberg Scale after remission of acute symptoms and related to both volumetric and shape measurements of thalamus, caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus, respectively. Age, education, medication and duration of illness were considered as potential confounders.
Results:
NSS were associated with structural alterations predominantly in the thalamus, the left caudate nucleus, and in the right globus pallidus. According to shape analyses these associations referred to regionally specific morphometric alterations rather than to global atrophy of the respective structures.
Conclusion:
Our findings provide new insights into the association of NSS with brain morphometric alterations and lend further support to an involvement of multiple subcortical regions in schizophrenia.
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