Structural correlates of cognitive deficit and elevated gamma noise power in schizophrenia.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the relation between cognition, gray matter (GM) volumes and gamma noise power (amount of background oscillatory activity in the gamma band) in schizophrenia.

Methods: We explored the relation between cognitive performance and regional GM volumes using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), in order to discover if the association between gamma noise power (an electroencephalography measurement of background activity in the gamma band) and cognition is observed through structural deficits related to the disease. Noise power, magnetic resonance imaging and cognitive assessments were obtained in 17 drug-free paranoid patients with schizophrenia and 13 healthy controls.

Results: In comparison with controls, patients showed GM deficits at posterior cingulate (bilateral),left inferior parietal (supramarginal gyrus) and left inferior dorsolateral prefrontal regions. Patients exhibited a direct association between performance in working memory and right temporal (superior and inferior gyri) GM densities. They also displayed a negative association between right anterior cerebellum volume and gamma noise power at the frontal midline (Fz) site.

Conclusion: A structural deficit in the cerebellum may be involved in gamma activity disorganization in schizophrenia. Temporal structural deficits may relate to cognitive dysfunction in this illness.