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M ost structural imaging studies in schizophrenia emphasize left-sided temporal lobe abnormalities in addition to more diffuse brain abnormalities (1-3). The association between reduced left temporal lobe volume and hallucinations (4, 5) and theories linking temporal lobe asymmetry with the illness (6) have rekindled interest in abnormal asymmetry of temporal lobe structures in schizophrenia. One such region is the planum temporale, part of the superior temporal gyrus, which is usually larger on the left and which has a critical role in supporting language functions in humans (7). Evidence both for and against reduction of left planum temporale size (and hence reduced asymmetry) in schizophrenia has been presented (8, 9). One possible explanation for this inconsistency is that a left-sided decrease in the volume of temporal lobe language areas is confined to schizophrenic patients who have a strong predisposition to auditory hallucinations. This decrease could account for a number of alterations in functional asymmetry in hallucination-prone schizophrenic indiPreliminary results presented at

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The results suggest that poor insight is significantly related to schizophrenic psychopathology, and confirm that there is a relationship between insight and executive performance. Awareness of illness is not related to any global brain measures, suggesting future investigations should pay attention to more specific cortical regions such as the frontal cortex.