title: Neuronal dysfunction of the frontal lobe in schizophrenia.
abstract: Localized in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was performed to evaluate metabolic alterations in the right and left frontal lobe before and after antipsychotic treatment of schizophrenic patients (n=24) and a group of healthy normal subjects (n=20). Proton metabolic ratios obtained from the 8 cm3 voxels in the right and left frontal lobes were compared with the clinical assessment for each subject. There was no significant difference in the metabolic ratios between the right and the left frontal lobes in either the schizophrenic group or the control group, indicating no laterality. Compared with those of the normal control group, NAA/Cr ratio of the schizophrenic patients showed significantly lower value. The NAA/Cr ratio of the schizophrenic patients was not changed after antipsychotic treatment. The present study supports the 'hypofrontality' hypothesis of schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Chi-Un
authors.initials: CU
authors.lastname: Pae
authors.forename: Bo-Young
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Choe
authors.forename: Ra-Hyeong
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Joo
authors.forename: Hyun-Kook
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Tae-Suk
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seung-Schik
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Byung-Gil
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Jung-Jin
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Soo-Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chul
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: In-Ho
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.forename: Chang Uk
authors.initials: CU
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011522:Protons; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D011522:Protons