Occipital bending in schizophrenia

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of occipital bending (an occipital lobe crossing or twisting across the midline) in subjects with schizophrenia and matched healthy controls. Method: Occipital bending prevalence was investigated in 37 patients with schizophrenia and 44 healthy controls. Results: Ratings showed that prevalence was nearly three times higher among schizophrenia patients (13/37 [35.1%]) than in control subjects (6/44 [13.6%]). Furthermore, those with schizophrenia had greater normalized gray matter volume but less white matter volume and had larger brain-to-cranial ratio. Conclusion: The results suggest that occipital bending is more prevalent among schizophrenia patients than healthy subjects and that schizophrenia patients have different gray matter–white matter proportions. Although the cause and clinical ramifications of occipital bending are unclear, the results infer that occipital bending may be a marker of psychiatric illness.