This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (2)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Neurology  • Schizophrenia  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging  • Alert me on articles by topic

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In reply

In our article,¹ we argued that changes in measurements on MRI scans over time in patients with schizophrenia should not be interpreted as evidence that neurodegeneration or neurotoxicity is a primary feature of the disease. The points that we raised to support this argument included the paucity of biologically plausible clinical-neuropathologic correlations, the remarkable inconsistency of the data, and the virtual absence of evidence of neurodegeneration in postmortem brain tissue, despite numerous studies. That Mathalon et al now state that concluding otherwise would be "misguided" suggests that our argument was convincing, as these authors in their earlier writings had advocated for a neurodegeneration interpretation (although their current use of the phrase "parenchyma lost" raises concerns that there is still some reluctance). In defending the MRI morphometry literature, they raise an important question: do longitudinal MRI morphometry studies contribute to our understanding of the brain disorder that accounts for . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Daniel R. Weinberger, MD
Clinical Brain Disorders Branch
National Institutes of Mental Health
10 Center Dr, Bldg 10, Room 3C-101, MSC 1255
Bethesda, MD 20892

Robert K. McClure, MD
Chapel Hill, NC

RELATED ARTICLE

Neurotoxicity, Neuroplasticity, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Morphometry
Daniel H. Mathalon, Judith L. Rapoport, Kenneth L. Davis, and John H. Krystal
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2003;60(8):846-848.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Association Between Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Val66Met Gene Polymorphism and Progressive Brain Volume Changes in Schizophrenia
Ho et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2007;164:1890-1899.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Structural Brain Imaging Evidence for Multiple Pathological Processes at Different Stages of Brain Development in Schizophrenia
Pantelis et al.
Schizophr Bull 2005;31:672-696.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT