Reproducibility of Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging in Patients with Schizophrenia

Abstract

Using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging ( 1 H-MRSI) we found in a previous study a specific pattern of neuronal pathology in patients with schizophrenia as determined by relative loss of signal from N-acetylcontaining compounds (NAA

Multiregional 1 H-MRSI of the hippocampus, thalamus, and basal ganglia in schizophrenia

“…Deicken et al (2000) reported a decreased NAA signal in the mediodorsal region of the thalamus in schizophrenic patients. The authors pointed out that the discrepancy between their findings and previous MRSI studies (Bertolino et al 1996(Bertolino et al , 1998b) may be the result of differences in voxel selection. We could corroborate the finding of decreased NAA in the selected voxels of the mediodorsal region of the thalamus in schizophrenic patients ).…”

“…(Hazlett et al 1999) point out that morphologic changes of the thalamus in schizophrenia are only marginal but there are pronounced functional changes very localized to subregions of the thalamus, most pronounced in the mediodorsal nucleus. Whereas Omori et al (2000) and Deicken et al (2000) found a significant bilateral reduction in the thalamus of the NAA signal and ratio, Bertolino et al (1996Bertolino et al ( , 1998b and Delamillieure et al (2000) did not find significant differences between schizophrenic patients and controls in the thalamus. In a single voxel study, Heimberg et al (1998) found a trend towards reduced NAA in the left thalamus.…”

“…It is consistent with a process like neuronal apoptosis which does not elicit reactive gliosis. But repeated findings of reduced NAA in the absence of volumetric changes (Deicken et al 1999;Bertolino et al 1998aBertolino et al , 1998b suggest that NAA may be measuring neuronal dysfunction rather than neuronal loss. (Hazlett et al 1999) point out that morphologic changes of the thalamus in schizophrenia are only marginal but there are pronounced functional changes very localized to subregions of the thalamus, most pronounced in the mediodorsal nucleus.…”

“…It has been proposed that the hippocampus is a potential site for a neurodevelopmental lesion in schizophrenia and various MRSI studies have found decreased NAA values or NAA ratios in the hippocampus of schizophrenic patients (Deicken et al 1999(Deicken et al , 1998Nasrallah et al 1994;Bertolino et al 1998aBertolino et al , 1998bMaier et al 1996). The thalamus is involved in the processing of sensory inputs and a variety of interactions among cortical, subcortical and brainstem nuclei (Hazlett et al 1999).…”

Functional neuroimaging in child psychiatry

“…Reductions of NAA in the hippocampal area and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, suggestive of neuronal involvement, have been reported in adultonset schizophrenia and found to be independent of treatment [27,28]. Similarly, studies of children and adolescents with schizophrenia have shown reductions of NAA/Cre in the frontal lobes [29•,30] and mesial temporal regions [29•].…”