The size and fibre composition of the corpus callosum with respect to gender and schizophrenia: a post-mortem study.
In this study the cross-sectional area (in n = 14 female controls, 15 male controls, 11 female patients with schizophrenia, 15 male patients with schizophrenia) and fibre composition (in n = 11 female controls, 10 male controls, 10 female patients with schizophrenia, 10 male patients with schizophrenia) of the corpus callosum in post-mortem control and schizophrenic brains was examined. A gender x diagnosis interaction (P = 0.005) was seen in the density of axons in all regions of the corpus callosum except the posterior midbody and splenium. Amongst controls, females had greater density than males; in patients with schizophrenia this difference was reversed. A reduction in the total number of fibres in all regions of the corpus callosum except the rostrum was observed in female schizophrenic patients (P = 0.006; when controlling for brain weight, P = 0.053). A trend towards a reduced cross-sectional area of the corpus callosum was seen in schizophrenia (P = 0.098); however, this is likely to be no more than a reflection of an overall reduction in brain size. With age, all subregions of the corpus callosum except the rostrum showed a significant reduction in cross-sectional area (P = 0.018) and total fibre number (P = 0.002). These findings suggest that in schizophrenia there is a subtle and gender-dependent alteration in the forebrain commissures that may relate to the deviations in asymmetry seen in other studies, but the precise anatomical explanation remains obscure.
Highley
J R
JR
Department of Neuropathology, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, UK. robin.highley@clinical-neurology.ox.ac.uk
Esiri
M M
MM
McDonald
B
B
Cortina-Borja
M
M
Herron
B M
BM
Crow
T J
TJ
D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016477:Artifacts; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology; D002102:Cadaver; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics