Objective: The authors investigated whether absence of the adhesio interthalamica in patients with schizophrenia constitutes a marker of early developmental neuropathological changes.
Method: Thirty male patients with schizophrenia and 30 healthy male subjects were recruited for study. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed, and the presence or absence of the adhesio interthalamica was determined for each subject. The length and volume of the third ventricle were also measured.
Results: No differences in the presence or absence of the adhesio interthalamica were found between patients with schizophrenia and normal comparison subjects. Patients without the adhesio interthalamica had significantly higher scores for negative symptoms than patients with the adhesio interthalamica. There was no correlation between absence of the adhesio interthalamica and length and volume of the third ventricle in either patients or comparison subjects.
Conclusions: The findings suggest that patients with schizophrenia who do not have the adhesio interthalamica are characterized by more severe negative symptoms.