Neuronal dysfunction of the frontal lobe in schizophrenia.
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.
Pae
Chi-Un
CU
Department of Psychiatry, Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
Choe
Bo-Young
BY
Joo
Ra-Hyeong
RH
Lim
Hyun-Kook
HK
Kim
Tae-Suk
TS
Yoo
Seung-Schik
SS
Choi
Byung-Gil
BG
Kim
Jung-Jin
JJ
Lee
Soo-Jung
SJ
Lee
Chul
C
Paik
In-Ho
IH
Lee
Chang Uk
CU
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*
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D011522:Protons