OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to test the feasibility of using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine changes in cortical activation in response to verbal tasks in two brain regions. METHOD: Twelve schizophrenic patients and 11 comparison subjects underwent functional MRI of the frontal and temporal lobes. Stimulus sequences were divided into five 30-second segments by using a task- activation paradigm that alternated between resting and stimulated states. Functional images were collected every 30 seconds by using a gradient echo pulse sequence. RESULTS: Schizophrenic subjects demonstrated significantly less left frontal activation and greater left temporal activation than comparison subjects during a word fluency task. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary data suggest that functional MRI has the sensitivity to detect differences in activation between comparison subjects and schizophrenic patients during higher cortical functions. These findings are in agreement with PET studies that reported reduced left frontal activation during challenge paradigms for the schizophrenic patients.