When compared to the normal controls, the teenagers exposed to antipsychotic drugs experienced accelerated reductions in cortical surface area (2 to 3.5% per year).   The red zones (above, right) demonstrate the brain regions where gray matter loss was advanced.
	Although normal teenagers also experienced some reduction in surface area (green), their rate of change was 2-3x less than the medicated children with schizophrenia, and was consistent with *expected (normal) development.
	cortical gray matter loss per year
	Schizophrenia           2 to 3.5% per year
	Normal Controls           0.9 to 1.4% per year
	•normal development = as neurons become myelinated during and beyond puberty, the ratios of white to gray matter increase; at the cortical surface, this results in the apparent “thinning” of gray matter