Schizophrenia and brain asymmetry an evaluation of evidence for dominant lobe dysfunction

The author reviewed literature implicating a disturbance located in the left cerebral hemisphere in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Studies of the psychiatric sequelae of lateralized organic cerebral disease were considered, as well as neurological, neurophysiological, and neuroanatomic studies of psychiatric patients. In general, abnormalities in cerebral hemispheric asymmetry appear to be common among psychiatric patients, particularly those with personality disorders, some affective disorders, autistic children, and, at least, some schizophrenics. The latter may include those with milder, less chronic illnesses. A specific relationship between the side of unilateral cerebral impairment and diagnosis suggested by some authors is not consistently supported by the literature, however. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of neurodevelopmental issues in schizophrenia.