Ventricular enlargement and neuropsychological testing in schizophrenia.

The Ventricular Brain Ratio was computed in a group of 42 young chronic schizophrenics (age range: 17-45). The patients also completed a battery of neuropsychological tests: four WAIS subscales, the Benton test and the Trail Making Test. Although patients as a whole showed the expected ventricular enlargement and neuropsychological impairment when compared to control groups, no correlation was found between the two measures. These results are inconsistent with previous work on the same topic that hypothesized the association of both parameters. Some tentative explanations for these conflicting results are given.