Sulcal pits analysis implicates the left inferior frontal cortex as a neurodevelopmental marker for negative symptoms...

Negative symptoms are a core dimension of schizophrenia, yet their neurodevelopmental basis remains poorly understood. Sulcal pits-early-forming cortical landmarks that remain stable across the lifespan-provide a promising structural marker of neurodevelopment.

We examined sulcal pit morphology in 87 patients with schizophrenia and 88 matched healthy controls using whole-brain automated extraction and group-level parcellation into 'areals'.

The patients as a group showed significantly reduced sulcal pit depth in a right orbitofrontal-insular areal. Comparing two demographically matched patient subgroups with high (n = 31) and absent (n = 24) negative symptoms revealed that the high negative symptom patients exhibited significantly greater sulcal pit depth in a left inferior frontal areal encompassing the pars opercularis, inferior premotor cortex, and anterior insula; this result remained significant when controlling for disorganization scores. No group differences were found in sulcal pit frequency.

These findings suggest that while right frontoinsular alterations may reflect general developmental vulnerability to schizophrenia, left inferior frontal abnormalities may index a specific neurodevelopmental substrate predisposing to negative symptoms.