Home › Research › Getting a diagnosis
The relationship between brain structure and neurocognition in schizophrenia: a selective review
Antonova E, Sharma T, Morris R, Kumari V.. Schizophrenia research, 2004-10-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Both Kraepelin [1919. Dementia Praecox and Paraphrenia, Livingston, Edinburgh.] and Bleuler [1911. Dementia Praecox or the Group of Schizophrenias. Reprinted 1950 (trans. and ed. J. Zinkin). New York: International Univ. Press.] proposed that cognitive disturbances in schizophrenia are manifestations of brain abnormality. With the advent of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methodology, a number of studies have attempted to determine the relationship between brain structure and neurocognition in schizophrenia. We performed a review (1991-to date) of such studies with the aim of identifying the most consistent and compelling findings. The review revealed that whole brain volume tends to correlate with the measures of general intelligence as well as with a range of specific cognitive functions in normal controls and female schizophrenia patients, but this relationship is disrupted in male patients. The enlargement of the third ventricle, relative to the whole brain volume, is associated with deficient abstraction/flexibility, language, and attention/concentration in patients, whereas disproportionally larger lateral ventricles are associated with poorer psychomotor speed and attention/concentration in women, but not in men, with schizophrenia. Archicortical, but not paleocortical, prefrontal cortex tends to associate with the measures of executive function in both sexes regardless of diagnosis. Temporal lobe, hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus correlate with cognitive abilities such as performance speed and accuracy, memory and executive function, verbal endowment and abstraction/categorization, respectively. Some of these medial temporal lobe/neurocognition relationships appear to be specific to schizophrenia (i.e. not seen in controls). Striatal size is positively associated with goal-directed behavior, but not perseveration, in schizophrenia. Larger cerebellum is associated with higher IQ in normal controls and affected women, but this association is disrupted in affected men. Increased white matter of the vermis is associated with poorer language and immediate verbal memory in schizophrenia. Finally, the methodological limitations of the reviewed studies are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Antonova, E., Sharma, T., Morris, R., & Kumari, V. (2004). The relationship between brain structure and neurocognition in schizophrenia: a selective review. Schizophrenia research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2003.12.002
Vancouver
Antonova E, Sharma T, Morris R, Kumari V. The relationship between brain structure and neurocognition in schizophrenia: a selective review. Schizophrenia research. 2004. doi:10.1016/j.schres.2003.12.002. PMID: 15329292.
BibTeX
@article{antonova2004-15329292,
author = {Antonova, E. and Sharma, T. and Morris, R. and Kumari, V.},
title = {{The relationship between brain structure and neurocognition in schizophrenia: a selective review}},
journal = {Schizophrenia research},
year = {2004},
doi = {10.1016/j.schres.2003.12.002},
pmid = {15329292},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2003.12.002}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- The review revealed that whole brain volume tends to correlate with the measures of general intelligence as well as with a range of specific cognitive functions in normal controls and female schizophrenia patients, but this relationship is disrupted in male patients.
- The enlargement of the third ventricle, relative to the whole brain volume, is associated with deficient abstraction/flexibility, language, and attention/concentration in patients, whereas disproportionally larger lateral ventricles are associated with poorer psychomotor speed and attention/concentration in women, but not in men, with schizophrenia.
- Striatal size is positively associated with goal-directed behavior, but not perseveration, in schizophrenia.
- Larger cerebellum is associated with higher IQ in normal controls and affected women, but this association is disrupted in affected men.
- Increased white matter of the vermis is associated with poorer language and immediate verbal memory in schizophrenia.
Why it matters
This review concerns schizophrenia, reporting links between brain structure and thinking abilities in people with that condition. It contains nothing about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Getting a diagnosis →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 41/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 39 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 41 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Schizophrenia research) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Schizophrenia Research: journal h-index 240 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2004 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 420 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 17.5 citations a year over 24 year(s) since 2004 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 15.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 21 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | King's College London: institution h-index 1,348 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 15329292) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 39 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 39 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 41 out of 100. |
| Total | 41 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Related studies in Getting a diagnosis
Also tagged “bodies”
1,017 studies in the library carry the topic tag “bodies”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,017 tagged studies.