Evidence for a dysfunctional retrosplenial cortex in patients with schizophrenia: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study with a semantic-perceptual contrast.
We investigated whether the retrosplenial and the posterior cingulate cortex (RS-PCC) is functionally impaired in schizophrenia patients. Therefore, we measured functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signal changes associated with a synonym-judgment task known to activate, among other areas, the RS-PCC. Compared to 12 matched control subjects, 12 schizophrenia patients exhibited reliably weaker activations in the RS-PCC, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the left orbitofrontal cortex (P < 0.05, corrected). Differences in frontal activations are in line with previous studies showing a structurally and functionally affected prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia. The impaired RS-PCC functionality in a semantic task may relate to verbal memory deficits frequently observed in schizophrenia patients, because this region is pivotal for gating information into the medial temporal lobe memory system.
Tendolkar
Indira
I
Department of Psychiatry, University of Cologne, Joseph-Stelzmannstr. 9, 50924 Cologne, Germany. indira.tendolkar@rrz.uni-koeln.de
Weis
Susanne
S
Guddat
Oliver
O
Fernández
Guillén
G
Brockhaus-Dumke
Anke
A
Specht
Karsten
K
Klosterkötter
Joachim
J
Reul
Jürgen
J
Ruhrmann
Stephan
S
D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology*; D008032:Limbic System / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012660:Semantics
D010100:Oxygen