Schizophrenia: A review of neuroimaging techniques and findings

Neuroimaging has been used in schizophrenia since the invention of computed tomography and new modalities are introduced as technology advances. Magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, diffusion tensor imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging and radionuclide imaging are such techniques that are currently used in neuroimaging. Structural neuroimaging studies have demonstrated the association between auditory hallucinations and superior temporal gyrus volume loss whereas negative symptoms of schizophrenia were reported to be associated with prefrontal lobe volume loss. Functional neuroimaging techniques show that schizophrenia patients have diffuse functional disorders located in different areas and networks of the brain defined as the default mode network. The effects of chronic drug therapy affects neuroimaging findings by altering neuronal function via genomic expression and changes in the ultrastructural level. Although neuroimaging is an indispensible tool for psychiatric research, its clinical utility is questionable until new modalities become more accessible and regularly used in clinical practice. The aim of this paper is to provide clinicians with an introductory knowledge on neuroimaging in schizophrenia including basic physics principles, current contributions to general understanding and treatment of schizophrenia and possible future applications of neuroimaging.