Assessed the effects of nutritional deficiency during the 1st trimester of pregnancy on brain morphology in patients with schizophrenia. Nine schizophrenic patients (mean age 50.59 yrs) and 9 age-matched healthy comparison Ss exposed during the 1st trimester of gestation to the Dutch Hunger Winter were evaluated with magnetic resonance brain imaging, as were 9 schizophrenic patients (mean age 51.06 yrs) and 9 healthy Ss who were not prenatally exposed to the famine. Prenatal famine exposure in patients with schizophrenia was associated with decreased intracranial volume. Prenatal Hunger Winter exposure alone was related to an increase in brain abnormalities, predominantly white matter perintensities. Findings indicate that nutritional deficiency during the 1st trimester of gestation resulted in an increase in clinical brain abnormalities and was associated with aberrant early brain development in patients with schizophrenia. Stunted brain development secondary to factors that affect brain growth during the 1st trimester of gestation may thus be a potential risk factor for developing schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)