In vitro 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy of postmortem brains with schizophrenia.

Some evidence suggests that thalamic dysfunction could explain some of the signs and symptoms of schizophrenia. We measured the absolute concentrations of amino acid metabolites in thalamus, frontal pole, and cerebellar vermis in extracts of postmortem brains from 8 schizophrenics and 10 controls using high-resolution 1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The concentrations of N-acetyl aspartate, glutamate, and valine tended to be reduced in the thalamus of the schizophrenic group. Although it is difficult to ascribe significance to the "tendencies," these data may tend to support other data suggesting decreased thalamic volume or neuronal number in schizophrenia.