title: Basal ganglia N-acetylaspartate correlates with the performance in the procedural task 'Tower of Hanoi' of neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic patients.
abstract: We tested the hypothesis that basal ganglia dysfunction may be related to procedural learning impairment in schizophrenia. We determined the N-acetylaspartate/choline (NAA/Cho) ratio in the left striatal area in 11 young first-episode antipsychotic-naive patients and matched controls. Procedural learning was assessed by the four-disk version of the Tower of Hanoi. Analysis of variance showed that the number of moves and the execution time had a significant group effect (P=0.02, P<0.0001, respectively). Correlation analysis between procedural learning and the NAA/Cho ratio showed a negative significant correlation only in patients, measured by both time (P=0.006) and by moves (P=0.001). In summary, we found that schizophrenic patients have impaired procedural learning, and that this impairment is related to basal ganglia metabolism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, C/ Casanova, 143, 08036 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giménez
authors.forename: Carme
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Junqué
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: Pere
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vendrell
authors.forename: Imma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baeza
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salamero
authors.forename: Josep Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mercader
authors.forename: Miquel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernardo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D011340:Problem Solving; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000209:etiology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
chemical_list: D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate