Sexual dimorphism, brain morphology, and schizophrenia.

The study of sexual dimorphism in brain morphology may help delineate subtypes of schizophrenia based, in part, on sex; yield insight into the relationship between brain structure and behavior; and provide a neurodevelopmental context for studying the ontogenesis of schizophrenia. Preliminary findings from an ongoing study of sex differences in brain morphology and neuropsychological performance in schizophrenia suggest that schizophrenic males are characterized by multiple morphological deviations; this may represent an extreme form of normal sexual dimorphism in brain morphology. The role of brain morphology deviation in the ontogenesis of schizophrenia is discussed.