Altered white matter connectivity in never-medicated patients with schizophrenia

Mandl, René C.W.; Rais, Monica; Baal, G. Caroline M. van; Haren, Neeltje E.M. van; Cahn, Wiepke; Kahn, René S.; Pol, Hilleke E. Hulshoff

doi:10.1002/hbm.22075

Cited by 59 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…1,2 The involvement of distinct brain structures suggests that ineffective communication between brain regions may be involved through changes in white matter. 3 This theory is supported by several neuroimaging studies 4,5 as well as by postmortem and genetic studies. 6,7 Moreover, some of the schizophreniarelated changes in gray 8,9 and white matter 10 are progressive in nature.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 50%

Physical Exercise Keeps the Brain Connected: Biking Increases White Matter Integrity in Patients With Schizophrenia and Healthy Controls

Svátková

Mandl

Scheewe

et al. 2015

SCHBUL

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105

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It has been shown that learning a new skill leads to structural changes in the brain. However, it is unclear whether it is the acquisition or continuous practicing of the skill that causes this effect and whether brain connectivity of patients with schizophrenia can benefit from such practice. We examined the effect of 6 months exercise on a stationary bicycle on the brain in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Biking is an endemic skill in the Netherlands and thus offers an ideal situation to disentangle the effects of learning vs practice. The 33 participating patients with schizophrenia and 48 healthy individuals were assigned to either one of two conditions, ie, physical exercise or lifeas-usual, balanced for diagnosis. Diffusion tensor imaging brain scans were made prior to and after intervention. We demonstrate that irrespective of diagnosis regular physical exercise of an overlearned skill, such as bicycling, significantly increases the integrity, especially of motor functioning related, white matter fiber tracts whereas life-as-usual leads to a decrease in fiber integrity. Our findings imply that exercise of an overlearned physical skill improves brain connectivity in patients and healthy individuals. This has important implications for understanding the effect of fitness programs on the brain in both healthy subjects and patients with schizophrenia. Moreover, the outcome may even apply to the nonphysical realm.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 50%

Physical Exercise Keeps the Brain Connected: Biking Increases White Matter Integrity in Patients With Schizophrenia and Healthy Controls

Svátková

Mandl

Scheewe

et al. 2015

SCHBUL

Self Cite

105

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“…It is also noteworthy that we did not observe between-group differences in FA for the largest white matter connection between frontal and temporal regions, the uncinate fasciculus. Microstructural abnormalities of the uncinate fasciculus have been observed in social anxiety (Baur et al, 2011;Phan et al, 2009) and psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia (Mandl et al, 2012;Price et al, 2008). One putative explanation for our lack of findings in this region is type I error; however, given that no prior DTI studies have implicated this region in PTSD, it is possible that architectural abnormalities of the posterior cingulum are more unique to this disorder.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

White Matter Integrity in Highly Traumatized Adults With and Without Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Fani

King

Jovanović

et al. 2012

Neuropsychopharmacol

116

113

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Prior structural imaging studies of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have observed smaller volumes of the hippocampus and cingulate cortex, yet little is known about the integrity of white matter connections between these structures in PTSD samples. The few published studies using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to measure white matter integrity in PTSD have described individuals with focal trauma rather than chronically stressed individuals, which limits generalization of findings to this population; in addition, these studies have lacked traumatized comparison groups without PTSD. The present DTI study examined microstructural integrity of white matter tracts in a sample of highly traumatized African-American women with (n ¼ 25) and without (n ¼ 26) PTSD using a tract-based spatial statistical approach, with threshold-free cluster enhancement. Our findings indicated that, relative to comparably traumatized controls, decreased integrity (measured by fractional anisotropy) of the posterior cingulum was observed in participants with PTSD (po0.05). These findings indicate that reduced microarchitectural integrity of the cingulum, a white matter fiber that connects the entorhinal and cingulate cortices, appears to be associated with PTSD symptomatology. The role of this pathway in problems that characterize PTSD, such as inadequate extinction of learned fear, as well as attention and explicit memory functions, are discussed.

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“…In addition, all patients received antipsychotic treatment during the MRI scanning, and their effects may be a confounding factor in our fi ndings. However, abnormal white-matter connectivity has also been reported in drugnaïve patients [57] . Furthermore, we did not find significant correlations between antipsychotic medication doses and network measures (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compromised small-world efficiency of structural brain networks in schizophrenic patients and their unaffected parents

et al. 2015

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Several lines of evidence suggest that efficient information integration between brain regions is disrupted in schizophrenia. Abnormalities in white matter tracts that interconnect brain regions may be directly relevant to this pathophysiological process. As a complex mental disorder with high heritability, mapping abnormalities in patients and their firstdegree relatives may help to disentangle the risk factors for schizophrenia. We established a weighted network model of white matter connections using diffusion tensor imaging in 25 nuclear families with schizophrenic probands (19 patients and 41 unaffected parents) and two unrelated groups of normal controls (24 controls matched with patients and 26 controls matched with relatives). The patient group showed lower global efficiency and local efficiency. The decreased regional efficiency was localized in hubs such as the bilateral frontal cortices, bilateral anterior cingulate cortices, and left precuneus. The global effi ciency was negatively correlated with cognition scores derived from a 5-factor model of schizophrenic psychopathology.We also found that unaffected parents displayed decreased regional efficiency in the right temporal cortices, left supplementary motor area, left superior temporal pole, and left thalamus. The global efficiency tended to be lower in unaffected parents. Our data suggest that (1) the global effi ciency loss in neuroanatomical networks may be associated with the cognitive disturbances in schizophrenia; and (2) genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia may influence the anatomical organization of an individual's brain networks.

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Altered white matter connectivity in never-medicated patients with schizophrenia

Cited by 59 publications

References 57 publications

Physical Exercise Keeps the Brain Connected: Biking Increases White Matter Integrity in Patients With Schizophrenia and Healthy Controls

Physical Exercise Keeps the Brain Connected: Biking Increases White Matter Integrity in Patients With Schizophrenia and Healthy Controls

White Matter Integrity in Highly Traumatized Adults With and Without Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Compromised small-world efficiency of structural brain networks in schizophrenic patients and their unaffected parents

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