Frontality, laterality, and cortical-subcortical gradient of cerebral blood flow in schizophrenia: relationship to symptoms and neuropsychological functions.
According to the three hypotheses on the regional brain dysfunction in schizophrenia that have received some support in studies of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral metabolic rate, we calculated eight CBF measurement indices in 59 schizophrenic patients; frontality, laterality, cortical to subcortical gradients and superior to inferior difference. Four factors were selected from these eight indices, treated by principal component factor analysis (factor 1: cortical to subcortical gradient; factor 2: inferior frontality; factor 3: superior frontality; factor 4: laterality). We investigated their correlations with clinical and demographic characteristics. Factor 1 correlated with duration of illness. Factor 2 related most highly to numbers of perseverative errors on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and moderately to anhedonia. Factor 4 related to attentional impairment score of the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms. The schizophrenia specific symptom score calculated from the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale did not relate to any of these factors. It seemed that there were various dimensions of neural deficits in schizophrenia, corresponding to various aspects of symptomatology or neuropsychological functions.
Sagawa
K
K
Department of Neuropsychiatry, School of Medicine, Yamagata University, Japan.
Kawakatsu
S
S
Komatani
A
A
Totsuka
S
S
D000328:Adult; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon