Reduced neuron density, enlarged minicolumn spacing and altered ageing effects in fusiform cortex in schizophrenia Enrica Di Rosa a,1 , Timothy John Crow b,2 , Mary Anne Walker c , Georgia Black c , Steven Andrew Chance b,c, ⁎ a Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Scienze Psichiatriche e Anestesiologiche, Universitá di Messina, via Cons. Valeria, 1, 98125, Messina, Italy b SANE-POWIC, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, Headington OX3 7JX, UK c Schizophrenia Research, Neuropathology, West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK Received 20 April 2007; received in revised form 29 March 2008; accepted 1 April 2008 Abstract Structural and functional MRI studies report reduced volume and activation of the fusiform gyrus in schizophrenia. The fusiform cortex is involved in object naming and face recognition. Neuron cell size, shape and density, glial cell density and minicolumn spacing in layers III and V of the fusiform cortex were assessed following systematic random sampling from 13 controls and 11 schizophrenic patients. Pyramidal cell density was reduced in schizophrenia. Non-pyramidal cell density was reduced in layer III of the left hemisphere in schizophrenia, mostly in females. Non-pyramidal cells were larger in schizophrenia. Glial cell density was unaltered. Fusiform minicolumn spacing was asymmetrically wider in the right hemisphere of normal control subjects. Minicolumns were less dense in schizophrenia, particularly in the left hemisphere of females and the right hemisphere of males. Reduced neuron density in the fusiform cortex in schizophrenia contributes to evidence of functional–anatomical abnormalities from neuroimaging and neuropathology studies. Anatomical sex differences in schizophrenia may relate to anatomical and cognitive sex differences associated with fusiform cortex in the normal population. Wider minicolumn spacing is consistent with reduced cell density and is linked to altered ageing in schizophrenia. © 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Temporal lobe; Pyramidal cells; Neuron size; Asymmetry; Neuroplasticity; Ageing 1. Introduction Brain-imaging studies find reduced volume of the fusiform gyrus (FG) in schizophrenia (Onitsuka et al., 2006), but the microscopic basis has not yet been identified. Forming the inferior surface of the temporal lobe, the FG plays a central role in face processing, object and word recognition (Moore and Price, 1999), and it is part of a system that integrates perception, memory and emotion (Powell et al., 2004). Anomia (deficit in naming common objects) and prosopagnosia (deficit in identity discrimination of human faces) as well as difficulties in naming objects and colours, and in reading are associated with brain lesions in FG Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Psychiatry Research 166 (2009) 102 – 115 www.elsevier.com/locate/psychres ⁎ Corresponding author. Neuropathology, West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, Headington OX3 9DU, UK. Tel.: +44 1865234934; fax: +44 1865455922. E-mail address: steven.chance@clneuro.ox.ac.uk (S.A. Chance). 1 Tel.: +39 0902212092; fax: +39 090695136. 2 Tel.: +44 186555918. 0165-1781/$ - see front matter © 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2008.04.007