We have been studying quantitative volume, neuronal density, neuronal size and nuclear size in selected areas of brains from patients with certain neuropsychiatric disorders as well as normal controls from different age groups. Results to date indicate that there is normally age-related Purkinje cell loss in the cerebellum, pyramidal cell loss in area CA4 of the hippocampus, and neuron loss in the locus ceruleus. In schizophrenic subjects, we found a significant decrease in the pyramidal cell density in area CA4 of the hippocampus, mainly in the left hemisphere when anteriorly compared to controls. We found no significant morphological difference is between schizophrenic patients, affective disorder patients and normal controls in cerebellum. There was a trend toward a reduction in the volume of the locus ceruleus in schizophrenics, without a loss of neurons.
