Axonal counts of the corpus callosum of schizophrenic patients.

This study attempted to identify microscopic correlates to the structural abnormalities reported in the corpus callosum of schizophrenic patients. Sections of the genu, body, and splenium of the corpus callosum were taken from formalin-fixed brains of deceased patients with schizophrenia and nonschizophrenic control subjects. Photomicrographs of stained tissue were projected, and nerve fibers were counted. There were no significant differences (p greater than 0.4) in axonal counts between schizophrenic and control patients for any of the sites sampled. Our results suggest that morphometric abnormalities of the corpus callosum of schizophrenic patients, if present, are not the consequence of a primary process within this structure.