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Jun Soo Kwon, MD, PhD; Robert W. McCarley, MD; Yoshio Hirayasu, MD, PhD; Jane E. Anderson, PhD; Iris A. Fischer, BA; Ron Kikinis, MD; Ferenc A. Jolesz, MD; Martha E. Shenton, PhD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1999;56:142-148.

Background  The planum temporale, located on the posterior and superior surface of the temporal lobe, is a brain region thought to be a biological substrate of language and possibly implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. To investigate further the role of planum temporale abnormalities in schizophrenia, we measured gray matter volume underlying the planum temporale from high spatial resolution magnetic resonance imaging techniques.

Methods  Sixteen male patients with chronic schizophrenia and 16 control subjects were matched for age, sex, handedness, and parental socioeconomic status. Magnetic resonance imaging images were obtained from a 1.5-T magnet.

Results  Gray matter volume was significantly reduced in the left planum temporale (28.2%) in schizophrenic patients compared with normal controls. Schizophrenic patients showed a reversal of the left greater than right planum temporale asymmetry found in normal controls. Heschl's gyrus (primary auditory cortex) showed no differences between the left and right sides in either group. Of note, the Suspiciousness/Persecution subscale score of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale was associated with reduced left planum temporale volume in schizophrenic patients.

Conclusions  Patients with schizophrenia have reduced left planum temporale gray matter and a reversal of planum temporale asymmetry, which may underlie an impairment in language processing and symptoms of suspiciousness or persecution characteristic of schizophrenia.

From the Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Brockton Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (Drs Kwon, McCarley, Hirayasu, Anderson, and Shenton and Ms Fischer); and the Surgical Planning Laboratory, MRI Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston (Drs Kikinis and Jolesz). Dr Kwon is now affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Medical College, Seoul, Korea.

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