Schizophrenia and Cognitive Dysmetria: A Positron-Emission Tomography Study of Dysfunctional Prefrontal--Thalamic--Cerebellar Circuitry

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 93; no. 18; pp. 9985 - 9990
• Main Authors: Andreasen, Nancy C., O'Leary, Daniel S., Cizadlo, Ted, Arndt, Stephan, Rezai, Karim, Laura L. Boles Ponto, Watkins, G. Leonard, Hichwa, Richard D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 03.09.1996; National Acad Sciences; National Academy of Sciences
• Subjects: Adult; Blood flow; Brain; Cerebellum; Cerebellum - diagnostic imaging; Cognition & reasoning; Cognition Disorders - diagnostic imaging; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Memory; Neural conduction; Positron emission tomography; Prefrontal cortex; Prefrontal Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Radiography; Random allocation; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - diagnostic imaging; Thalamus; Thalamus - diagnostic imaging; Tomography; Tomography, Emission-Computed; Volunteerism
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.93.18.9985

Patients suffering from schizophrenia display subtle cognitive abnormalities that may reflect a difficulty in rapidly coordinating the steps that occur in a variety of mental activities. Working interactively with the prefrontal cortex, the cerebellum may play a role in coordinating both motor and cognitive performance. This positron-emission tomography study suggests the presence of a prefrontal--thalamic--cerebellar network that is activated when normal subjects recall complex narrative material, but is dysfunctional in schizophrenic patients when they perform the same task. These results support a role for the cerebellum in cognitive functions and suggest that patients with schizophrenia may suffer from a ``cognitive dysmetria'' due to dysfunctional prefrontal--thalamic--cerebellar circuitry.