ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Recently, functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI) has been an important tool for mapping in various functional brain disorders. And it is known that soft neurologic signs are frequently found in schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pattern of cerebral activation to motor tasks examining soft neurologic signs in patients with schizophrenia, non-schizophrenic psychoses, and control subjects, using functional MRI. METHODS: Nine patients with schizophrenia, and six patients with non-schizophrenic psychoses, and six healthy control subjects were examined. A paradigm, in a resting condition followed by an activation state(finger-to-thumb opposition task and fistring task by right hand) was used for blood oxygen level dependent f-MRI. Activated voxels in both motor cortices and supplementary motor cortex were recorded and the lateralization index of cortical response was measured. RESULTS: Patients with schizophrenia showed typical increased activation in right motor cortex and reversed lateralization by finger-to-thumb opposition task compared with non-schizophrenic psychoses and contol subjects. CONCLUSION: The present study provides evidence for specific reversed lateralizaiton in fMRI brain activation by motor task in patients with schizophrenia. FMRI will be used as a powerful tool for elucidating the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.