Beyond language--speculations on the prefrontal cortex and schizophrenia.

Changes to the structural complexity of the spoken language of schizophrenic patients have been demonstrated in three recent studies. The speculation is offered that these changes could result from dorsolateral prefrontal cortical dysfunction. Impairment of the executive functions of this part of the brain could theoretically explain both the varied symptomatology of schizophrenia and its unique pattern of ages of onset.