Chunk #24 — DIMENSIONS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN NEUROLEPTIC-NAÏVE PATIENTS WITH RECENT-ONSET SCHIZOPHRENIA — A proposal for MRI-based parcellation of the frontal pole
The FP, which largely overlaps with Brodmann's area (BA) 10, is the rostral-most part of the hominid cerebral cortex and plays a critical role in complex aspects of human cognition. The functional relevance of this important brain region is further exemplified by its suggested role as a “gateway” which biases the priority of information from among stimulus-oriented and stimulus-independent cognitive operations.[66] The FP exerts its influence probably through three important connections which link it to the STG via the extreme capsule, the amygdala via the uncinate fasciculus, and the anterior cingulate gyrus through the cingulate fasciculus.[55] These three brain regions[5467] and their white matter connections to the FP[6869] have been shown to be crucially involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Moreover, the STG, amygdala and anterior cingulate have been shown to be related to the important symptom dimensions of schizophrenia, viz., positive symptoms — delusions, hallucinations, and thought disorder,[54] affective dysregulation (disorganized affect),[7071] and negative symptoms,[72] respectively.
