title: Fornix integrity and hippocampal volume in male schizophrenic patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The hippocampus has been shown to be abnormal in schizophrenia. The fornix is one of the main fiber tracts connecting the hippocampus with other brain regions. Few studies have evaluated the fornix in schizophrenia, however. A focus on fornix abnormalities and their association with hippocampal abnormalities might figure importantly in our understanding of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Line-scan diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to evaluate diffusion in the fornix in 24 male patients with chronic schizophrenia and 31 male control subjects. Maps of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (D(m)), which are indices sensitive to white-matter integrity, were generated to quantify diffusion within the fornix. We used high spatial resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure hippocampal volume.
  
  
  RESULTS
  FA and cross-sectional area of the fornix were significantly reduced in patients compared with control subjects. D(m) was significantly increased, whereas hippocampal volume was bilaterally reduced in patients. Reduced hippocampal volume was correlated with increased mean D(m) and reduced cross-sectional area of the fornix for patients. Patients also showed a significant correlation between reduced scores on neuropsychologic measures of declarative-episodic memory and reduced hippocampal volumes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings demonstrate a disruption in fornix integrity in patients with schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Boston VA Healthcare System, Brockton Division, and Harvard Medical School, Brockton, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Noriomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kuroki
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kubicki
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Nestor
authors.forename: Dean F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Salisbury
authors.forename: Hae-Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Levitt
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Woolston
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frumin
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niznikiewicz
authors.forename: Carl-Fredrik
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Westin
authors.forename: Stephan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: McCarley
authors.forename: Martha E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Shenton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D001931:Brain Mapping; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D020712:Fornix, Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric