title: Increased cerebellar vermis white-matter volume in men with schizophrenia.
abstract: We aimed to investigate cerebellar structural abnormalities and their functional significance in patients with schizophrenia. Forty right-handed men with schizophrenia and 40 sex, age and handedness matched controls underwent a volumetric magnetic resonance scan with 1 mm3 isotropic spatial resolution. Cerebellar grey- and white-matter volumes were analysed using voxel-based morphometry. Patients with schizophrenia completed a battery of neuropsychological tests assessing sustained attention (continuous performance test), memory (Hopkins memory test) and executive function (verbal fluency and Wisconsin card sorting tests). Patients with schizophrenia exhibited significantly increased cerebellar vermis white-matter volume compared with controls. By contrast, total cerebellar volume, and grey- and white-matter volumes of cerebellar hemispheres were not significantly different between groups. Increased vermis white-matter volume in patients was associated with poor verbal fluency performance. We concluded that increased white-matter in the cerebellar vermis, possibly suggesting anomalous connectivity, may be associated with verbal executive dysfunction in men with chronic schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Sheffield Cognition and Neuroimaging Laboratory (SCANLab), Academic Clinical Psychiatry, University of Sheffield, The Longley Centre, Norwood Grange Drive, Sheffield S5 7JT, United Kingdom. k.h.lee@sheffield.ac.uk
authors.forename: Kwang-Hyuk
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Tom F D
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Farrow
authors.forename: Randolph W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Parks
authors.forename: Lisa D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Newton
authors.forename: Nusrat U
authors.initials: NU
authors.lastname: Mir
authors.forename: Paul N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Egleston
authors.forename: Wendy H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Iain D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.forename: Peter W R
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Woodruff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012564:Schizophrenic Language; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology