Neuropathology

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Neuropathology
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Nissl
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Brodmann
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Alzheimer
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The Vogts
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Schizophrenia is the graveyard of neuropathology

• Comment by neurologist Fred Plum at an
  International Congress of Neuropathology

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Possible Reasons for Lack of Measurable
Abnormalities

• Problems in defining the phenotype
• No single pathophysiology
• Due to reversible neurochemical processes
• Not accessible using traditional neuropathology
  tools
• In areas where neuropathologists have not yet
  looked
• Due to abnormalities in connectivity

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Some Methodological Problems

• Changes secondary to process of dying (e.g.,
  coma)
• Changes secondary to chronic disease of
  peripheral organs
• Effects of drugs (cortisol, psychoactive drugs)
• Time to fixation
• Postmortem shrinkage or swelling

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Brain Regions Showing Replicable
Neuropathological Abnormalities

• Temporolimbic regions
• Thalamus
• Prefrontal cortex

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Findings in Limbic Regions

• Reduced volume of hippocampus, parahippocampus,
  and entorhinal cortex
• Reduced cell numbers and size
• Disturbed cytoarchitecture
• Deficits in cingulate interneurons
• Cavum septi pellucidi

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Hippocampal Atrophy in Schizophrenia
Patients
Controls
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Thalamic Nuclei
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Neuropil in Frontal Cortex
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A Neurodevelopmental Disorder Supporting
Evidence from Neuropathology

• Absence of gliosis
• Abnormal cytoarchitecture
• Visible markers of neurodevelopmental
  abnormalities such as cavum septi pellucidi