Publications by authors named "Laura C Wiegand"
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to explore the surface complexity of the prefrontal cortex and hemispheric asymmetry in first-episode schizophrenia patients.
- MRI scans were conducted on three groups: first-episode schizophrenia patients, first-episode affective psychosis patients, and age-matched healthy controls.
- Results indicated that while there was no significant difference in cortical complexity, schizophrenia patients showed reduced left-right asymmetry compared to healthy controls, suggesting a neurodevelopmental link to the disorder.
Background: Findings from postmortem studies suggest reduced prefrontal cortical thickness in schizophrenia; however, cortical thickness in first-episode schizophrenia has not been evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Methods: Prefrontal cortical thickness was measured using MRI in first-episode schizophrenia patients (n = 17), first-episode affective psychosis patients (n = 17), and normal control subjects (n = 17); subjects were age-matched within 2 years and within a narrow age range (18-29 years). A previous study using the same subjects reported reduced prefrontal gray matter volume in first-episode schizophrenia.