Prefrontal cortex, negative symptoms, and schizophrenia: an MRI study

Abstract

The present study measured prefrontal cortical gray and white matter volume in chronic, male schizophrenic subjects who were characterized by a higher proportion of mixed or negative symptoms than previous patients that we have evaluated. Seventeen chronic male schizophrenic subjects and 17 male control subjects were matched on age and handedness. Regions of interest (ROI) were measured using high-resolution magnetic resonance (MR) acquisitions consisting of contiguous 1.5-mm slices of the entire brain. No significant differences were found between schizophrenic and control subjects in mean values for prefrontal gray matter volume in either hemisphere. However, right prefrontal white matter was significantly reduced in the schizophrenic group. In addition, right prefrontal gray matter volume was significantly correlated with right hippocampal volume in the schizophrenic, but not in the control group. Furthermore, an analysis in which the current data were combined with those from a previous study showed that schizophrenic subjects with high negative symptom scores had significantly smaller bilateral white matter volumes than those with low negative symptom scores. White matter was significantly reduced in the right hemisphere in this group of schizophrenic subjects. Prefrontal volumes were also associated with negative symptom severity and with volumes of medial-temporal lobe regions -two results that were also found previously in schizophrenic subjects with mostly positive symptoms. These results underscore the importance of temporal-prefrontal pathways in the symptomatology of schizophrenia, and they suggest an association between prefrontal abnormalities and negative symptoms.

Neural Correlates of Automatic and Controlled Auditory Processing in Schizophrenia

“…This suggests that auditory impairment in schizophrenia extends beyond the superior temporal gyrus and Heschl's gyrus as shown in earlier fMRI studies, 10,24,25 and as inferred from event-related potential studies of the auditory mismatch negativity. 26 Impaired thalamic function has been reported in controlled processing, 4 but not in automatic processing.…”

Abnormal cortical folding patterns within Broca's area in schizophrenia: Evidence from structural MRI

“…These studies together suggested that normal white matter myelination with increasing age is abnormal in patients with schizophrenia. White matter atrophy in the frontal lobes has been noted in other recent studies (Sanfilipo et al, 2000;Wible et al, 2001), but the discrepancy may be due to not taking the normal aging process into account.…”

Disruption of Neurogenesis on Gestational Day 17 in the Rat Causes Behavioral Changes Relevant to Positive and Negative Schizophrenia Symptoms and Alters Amphetamine-Induced Dopamine Release in Nucleus Accumbens

“…The negative symptoms of schizophrenia have in some studies been correlated with prefrontal dysfunction, and with extensive gray and white matter abnormalities in cortico-thalamo-cortical circuits (Gur et al, 2000;Lieberman et al, 2001;Mathalon et al, 2001;Nopoulos et al, 2001;Paillere-Martinot et al, 2001;Sigmundsson et al, 2001;Wible et al, 2001). Few clinical studies have specifically explored the biological basis of social dysfunction in schizophrenia, but one study suggests that morphological abnormalities of the ventral frontal cortex could be connected to social dysfunction (Chemerinski et al, 2002).…”