Investigation of volumetric changes of the thalamus in schizophrenia patients by stereological method

The aim of the study was to examine the thalamus volume and to investigate relationship between this volume structure and clinical symptoms by stereological study in schizophrenia patients This retrospective study was performed on 21 patients with schizohrenia admitted to the inpatients psychiatry clinic of university hospital of Afyonkarahisar in Turkey. Patients who had MRI scans and medical history included socio-demografic and clinical information. The control group consisted of 21 healthy individuals from the community. They age and sex mathed with patientgroup. Right, left, and total thalamus volumes of patients were significantly smaller than those of controls. In additional to, left and total thalamus volumes were positive correlated with the age of patient and age of onset (p<0.01, p:0.02, respectively). Thalamus may play a role in pathophysiology of schizophrenia