Cerebral asymmetries in schizophrenia

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Early observations noted lower right-handedness in schizophrenia patients.
• This led to hypotheses linking brain asymmetry to schizophrenia's development.
• Reduced brain asymmetry is now a consistently reported feature across various neuroimaging studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the role of brain asymmetry in schizophrenia.
• To investigate the correlation between reduced asymmetry and cognitive/psychopathological dimensions.
• To re-evaluate the significance of asymmetry loss in schizophrenia pathogenesis.

Main Methods:

• Review of findings from electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and functional MRI (fMRI).
• Analysis of structural asymmetries in language-related brain regions.
• Reprocessing of data within evolutionary and psychopathological frameworks.

Main Results:

• Consistent reporting of reduced/lost brain asymmetries in schizophrenia across multiple techniques.
• Significant correlations found between reduced asymmetry and cognitive/psychopathological deficits.
• Absence or reversal of structural asymmetries observed in language areas like the Sylvian fissure and planum temporale.

Conclusions:

• Loss of brain asymmetry and associated language impairment may be a primary factor in schizophrenia.
• Despite a complex etiology, brain asymmetry remains a significant area of research for schizophrenia.
• The concept of brain asymmetry provides valuable insights for clinicians and researchers in schizophrenia.