Neuroanatomy of schizophrenia

The articles that appear in this issue offer a framework of insights about the neuroanatomy of schizophrenia from three learned and creative perspectives. All three articles advance our understanding of schizophrenia from a single locus/specific "lesion" model to more advanced perspectives of neural circuit dysfunction models. Goldman-Rakic and Selemon review their own and others' work on structure-activity relationships of the frontal cortex and related working memory dysfunction. This important but sometimes cloudy and complex area is illuminated by their highly specific, informative research. Jones focuses on thalamic abnormalities hypothetically linked to abnormal oscillations in large arrays of cortical and thalamic neurons, a critically important concept in understanding the functional consequences of abnormal (thalamic) brain structure and function. Graybiel describes her interest in abnormal basal ganglia activity-dependent loops that may access the thalamus and set the tone of thalamo-cortical transmission. This view allows for us to understand the "upward" influences on basal ganglia function (and dysfunction) relevant to schizophrenia. These intriguing articles raise a number of issues that await increased data and continued integrating insights. These issues include the need for more information about (1) the developmental timing of lesions or dysfunctions; (2) the extent and regional distribution of abnormalities; (3) the relationship of brain dysfunction to clinical/cognitive abnormalities; and (4) the variable expression of brain abnormalities across the schizophrenia spectrum. These three articles and their authors are at the forefront of our expanding knowledge about the neuroanatomy of schizophrenia and how complex structural and functional deficits are expressed in individuals in the group of schizophrenias.