Abstract
Magnetic Resonance and Positron Emission Tomography with Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) imaging were used to study the size, shape and metabolic rate of the temporal lobe of never medicated (n = 16) or unmedicated (n = 27) schizophrenics and normal controls (n = 17). All subjects performed a visual attention task (a degraded version of the continuous performance test) during the FDG uptake period. The size of the temporal lobe was not significantly different between the groups. In schizophrenics, the temporal lobe was more active on the right while in contrast, it was more active on the left in controls (F=4.16, df=1,56, p=.046). In the schizophrenic patients, correlational analyses showed that increased asymmetry (left minus right) was related to clinical symptomatology indexed by total Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores. These findings are consistent with the literature which indicates temporal lobe pathology in schizophrenia. Analyses comparing the shape of the temporal lobe will also be presented.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shihabuddin, L., Luu, C., Hazlett, E. et al. Magnetic Resonance and Positron Emission Tomography Imaging of the Temporal Lobe in Schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacol 11, 285 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1380212
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1380212