Neurological soft sign e misurazioni cerebrali indagate mediante RMN in pazienti schizofrenici

Background and aims The direct study of the cerebral structure and functions in vivo in patients with schizophrenia, made possible by the development and subsequent application of neuroimaging techniques, has suggested the existence of an anatomic substrate related to the illness. Many results have encouraged research toward a hypothesis of real alterations of the brain involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. These alterations could be due to disgenetic events, altered migration or differentiation of nerve cells, or neuronal degeneration with premature apoptosis. Evidence of a cerebral implication in schizophrenia is also suggested by confirmation of neurological soft signs. These are non-specific neurological signs of functional, motor, sensorial and integrative type that, currently, can not be ascribed to an exact area of lesion in Central Nervous System (CNS). Despite this evidence, data in the literature concerning the relationship between cerebral alterations, investigated by means of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and Neurological Soft Sign (NSS) suggest the existence of most interested brain areas. The aim of this study was to investigate, by means of MRI, the quantitative alterations of cortical (frontal area and verm cerebellar linear measurements) and subcortical structures (hippocampal and third ventricle linear measurements) and their correlation with NSS in a sample of schizophrenic patients.