Biological studies in schizophrenia.

Abstract

The question of whether schizophrenia is associated with structural or functional abnormalities of the nervous system, or both, has become the principal focus of biological studies of schizophrenia. Computed tomography studies have revealed ventricular enlargement and cortical atrophy in a subgroup of schizophrenic patients. While present from the early stages of the illness, they appear to be most severe in patients with negative symptoms and poor outcome. Quantitative neuropathological studies have tentatively demonstrated decreased volume of specific brain areas, neuronal loss, and other changes in the limbic system, basal ganglia, and frontal cortex. Dopamine (DA) remains the neurotransmitter most likely to be involved in schizophrenia, although there is also evidence for disturbances of serotonin and norepinephrine. Post-mortem and positron emission tomographic studies suggest an increased number of D2 DA receptors in some schizophrenics. Neuroendocrine studies reinforce the role of DA in schizophrenics. Viral infections and autoimmune disturbances may be responsible for some types of schizophrenia, but there is no firm experimental evidence to support either hypothesis. The possibility that mixtures of structural abnormalities and functional changes involving DA occur in the same patients rather than independently as part of two syndromes (Type I, II) seems attractive. Future studies should identify subtypes of schizophrenia based on biological criteria and contribute to identification of specific genetic abnormalities which increase vulnerability to manifest the schizophrenic phenotype.