DA: Baggrund: Histologiske og neurokemiske fund har indikeret at patienter der liderafskizofreni kunnehave forøget neurontæthedi den cerebrale kortex / pandelap, hvor antallet af neuron er uændret. Nedbrydning af 'products of membrane' og fosfolipider er forøget i hjernen hos voksne skizofrene patienter. Metode: En automatisk segmentering af MR billeder blev udført. En fraktionel værdi blev beregnet forgråsubstans, hvid substans og cerebrospinalvæske (CSF) for hver voxel og normaliseret til 100, afspejlende den procentuelle andel af væv i hver voxel. Studiet omfattede 17 patienter med diagnosen skizofreni og 19 normale kontroller. Resultater: En signifikant reduceret hjernevolumen blev målt for patientgruppen med skizofreni sammenlignet med kontrolgruppen. Denne reduktion kunne skyldes reduceret volumen af hvid substans. Forholdet mellem grå/hvid i patientgruppen med skizofreni var 1.31 sammenlignet med 1.17 i normale sunde forsøgspersoner (p<0.005). Denne forskel kunne ikke forklares ved forkeli alder,højde, køn eller misbrug. Kommentar: Denne svækkelse af hvid substans i patienter med skizofreni antyder en defekt i det kommunikative forbindelsessystem i hjernen i denne patientgruppe. Det har sammenfald med andre 'recent' fund af svækket fronto-temporal interaktion under 'the word fluency task' hos patienter med skizofreni. EN:Background: Recent histological and neurochemical findings have suggested that patients with schizophrenia may have increased neuronal density of the cerebral cortex, whereas the neuronal number is unchanged. Break-down products of membrane and phospholipids are increased in the brains of adolescent schizophrenic patients. Methods: A new fully automated segmentation of MR images was performed. The fractional values were calculated for grey matter, white matter and CSF in every voxel and normalized to 100, reflecting the percentage of the tissue component in every voxel. The study comprised 17 schizophrenic patients and 19 normal healthy volunteers. Results: Significantly decreased brain volumes were recorded in the schizophrenic patient group compared to controls. This decrease appeared to be due to white matter volume deficits. The grey/white ratio in schizophrenic patients was 1.31 as compared with I.l7 in the normal healthy volunteers (p<O.OO5). The findings could not be explained by difference in age, height, sex or abuse. Comment: The impairment of the white matter in schizophrenic patients may suggest a defect of the communicative connection system within the brain in this patient group. This is in concert with recent findings of impaired fronto-temporal interaction during the word fluency task in schizophrenic patients.