Dynamically spreading frontal and cingulate deficits mapped in adolescents with schizophrenia.
BACKGROUND
We previously detected a dynamic wave of gray matter loss in childhood-onset schizophrenia that started in parietal association cortices and proceeded frontally to envelop dorsolateral prefrontal and temporal cortices, including superior temporal gyri.


OBJECTIVE
To map gray matter loss rates across the medial hemispheric surface, including the cingulate and medial frontal cortex, in the same cohort studied previously.


METHODS
Five-year longitudinal study.


METHODS
National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Md. Subjects Twelve subjects with childhood-onset schizophrenia, 12 healthy controls, and 9 medication- and IQ-matched subjects with psychosis not otherwise specified.


METHODS
Three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging at baseline and follow-up.


METHODS
Gyral pattern and shape variations encoded by means of high-dimensional elastic deformation mappings driving each subject's cortical anatomy onto a group average; changes in cortical gray matter mapped by computing warping fields that matched sulcal patterns across hemispheres, subjects, and time.


RESULTS
Selective, severe frontal gray matter loss occurred bilaterally in a dorsal-to-ventral pattern across the medial hemispheric surfaces in the schizophrenic subjects. A sharp boundary in the pattern of gray matter loss separated frontal regions and cingulate-limbic areas.


CONCLUSIONS
Frontal and limbic regions may not be equally vulnerable to gray matter attrition, which is consistent with the cognitive, metabolic, and functional vulnerability of the frontal cortices in schizophrenia.
Vidal
Christine N
CN
Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Brain Mapping Division, Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 90095-1769, USA.
Rapoport
Judith L
JL
Hayashi
Kiralee M
KM
Geaga
Jennifer A
JA
Sui
Yihong
Y
McLemore
Lauren E
LE
Alaghband
Yasaman
Y
Giedd
Jay N
JN
Gochman
Peter
P
Blumenthal
Jonathan
J
Gogtay
Nitin
N
Nicolson
Rob
R
Toga
Arthur W
AW
Thompson
Paul M
PM
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001284:Atrophy; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012737:Sex Factors