Published Paper Details:

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder characterized by disturbances in perception, cognition, emotional regulation, and behaviour. Increasing scientific evidence suggests that structural and functional abnormalities in the brain play a crucial role in the development and manifestation of the disorder. The present study examines the role of neuroimaging techniques in understanding schizophrenia and explores the relationship between neuroimaging findings and clinical symptom severity. A quantitative, descriptive, and correlational research design was adopted. The study included 17 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, comprising 9 males and 8 females. Symptom severity was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), while neuroimaging data were obtained from clinical records including Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computed Tomography (CT), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the distribution of symptom severity across positive, negative, and general psychopathology domains. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied to examine gender differences, and Spearman's rank correlation was used to analyze relationships among symptom variables. The findings indicated that both male and female patients demonstrated comparable levels of symptom severity. Although females showed slightly higher mean scores across PANSS domains, these differences were not statistically significant. Correlation analysis revealed strong relationships among symptom domains but no significant association between gender and neuroimaging outcomes. The study highlights the importance of integrating neuroimaging findings with standardized clinical assessments to improve understanding of schizophrenia. Neuroimaging provides valuable insights into the biological basis of the disorder and supports the development of more comprehensive diagnostic and treatment approaches.