title: Decreased volume and increased asymmetry of the anterior limb of the internal capsule in patients with schizophrenia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The anterior limb of the internal capsule (ALIC) contains the anterior thalamic peduncle connecting the medial and anterior thalamic nuclei with the prefrontal cortex and the cingulate gyrus. The purpose of this study was to detect the volumetric changes in the ALIC in view of the putative abnormal frontothalamic connectivity in schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  High-resolution, three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging was acquired from 53 schizophrenia patients and 48 age- and gender-matched control subjects. Volumetric analysis was performed using consecutive 1-mm-thick coronal slices rostral to the anterior commissure, on the ALIC, caudate nucleus, and lentiform nucleus. White matter concentration over the whole brain was compared using the voxel-based morphometry (VBM) with Statistical Parametric Mapping 99.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients had significantly decreased volumes in the bilateral ALIC and showed significantly increased right-greater-than-left asymmetry of the ALIC; VBM revealed a reduction in white matter concentration of the bilateral internal capsule in patients. No volumetric difference was found in the rostral part of the caudate and lentiform nucleus between groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Decreased volume found in the ALIC supports the hypothesis of abnormal frontothalamic connectivity in schizophrenia. Increased asymmetry of the internal capsule seems consistent with the notion of predominantly left-side pathology of schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Toyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Shi-Yu
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hagino
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nohara
authors.forename: Ikiko
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Hikaru
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Seto
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurachi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000473:pathology; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D020772:Internal Capsule / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*