title: Decreased caudal anterior cingulate gyrus volume and positive symptoms in schizophrenia.
abstract: The anterior cingulate gyrus is a heterogeneous region that has specialized subdivisions with respect to its cytoarchitecture, function and connectivity. The aim of this study was to examine the morphological changes of the caudal subdivision of the anterior cingulate gyrus in the context of the cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical circuitry of schizophrenia and their relationship to clinical symptoms. Accordingly, we measured the volumes of the caudal and rostral anterior cingulate gyrus, the orbitofrontal cortex, the caudate and the thalamus by magnetic resonance imaging in age- and sex-matched groups, which consisted of 22 patients with schizophrenia and 22 normal volunteers. The clinical symptoms of schizophrenia patients were obtained using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Volumetric reduction of the right caudal anterior cingulate gyrus was observed in patients with schizophrenia as compared with the normal controls. Furthermore, a smaller volume of the caudal anterior cingulate gyrus was significantly correlated with more severe positive symptoms of schizophrenia. Thus, these findings suggest that a volumetric abnormality of the caudal anterior cingulate gyrus in schizophrenia may be related to positive symptoms and possibly involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 28 Yeongon-dong, Chongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Do-Hyung
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Jae-Jin
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Tae-Hyun
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.forename: Kyu Sik
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Roh
authors.forename: Tak
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Youn
authors.forename: Jun Soo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kwon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D014275:Trigeminal Caudal Nucleus / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology