Insular volumes in first-episode schizophrenia: gender effect.
Insula is a multimodal sensory integration region that acts as a gateway between somatosensory areas and limbic structures such as amygdala. Only a handful of region of interest (ROI) studies have suggested insular volume reduction in patients with schizophrenia but none have documented a gender effect on the volume of this structure. The authors used magnetic resonance images to measure insular volumes in previously untreated patients with first-episode schizophrenia (N=30) relative to those of healthy comparison subjects (N=30). Correlations with symptom severity were carried out. Intracranial volume was used as a covariate in the analysis. Female patients (N=15) had significantly reduced right insular volume relative to healthy female comparison subjects (p<0.05). On preliminary analysis, the right and left insular volumes in female patients had significant negative correlations with the positive symptoms scores (p<0.05), but not on correcting for multiple comparisons. Insula is developmentally and phylogenetically a watershed region where the more primitive allocortex transitions into the more developed isocortex. Thus its role as a substrate of neurodevelopmental hypothesis in schizophrenia and the interplay with gender deserves more attention.
Duggal
Harpreet S
HS
Room 441, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Muddasani
Srirangam
S
Keshavan
Matcheri S
MS
D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000002:abnormalities*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008032:Limbic System / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors