Smaller neocortical gray matter and larger sulcal cerebrospinal fluid volumes in neuroleptic-naive women with schizotypal personality disorder.
BACKGROUND
Structural brain abnormalities, including larger cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volumes, have been observed in men diagnosed as having schizotypal personality disorder (SPD).


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether women with SPD have abnormalities similar to those of men with SPD and to elucidate specific SPD regional volume deficits and symptom correlations.


METHODS
Naturalistic study.


METHODS
Thirty neuroleptic-naive women with SPD and 29 female control subjects, both recruited from the community. Participants were group matched for age, parental socioeconomic status, handedness, and IQ.


METHODS
A new segmentation method was applied to magnetic resonance images to automatically parcel the images into CSF, gray matter, and white matter. The neocortex was manually separated from subcortical and other nonneocortical structures. Voxel-based morphometry was applied to determine global and regional volume deficits.


METHODS
Left and right neocortical gray matter, white matter, and CSF relative volumes as well as clinical symptoms from the Structured Interview for Schizotypy and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief Version.


RESULTS
Smaller left (3.84%) and right (3.83%) neocortical gray matter relative volumes associated with larger left (9.66%) and right (9.61%) sulcal CSF relative volumes were found in women with SPD compared with controls. Voxel-based morphometry showed that the neocortical deficits in SPD were especially prominent in the left superior and middle temporal gyri, left inferior parietal region with postcentral gyrus, and right superior frontal and inferior parietal gyri. In the SPD group, larger lateral ventricle volumes correlated with more severe symptoms on the Structured Interview for Schizotypy and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief Version.


CONCLUSIONS
The smaller neocortical gray matter volume and larger sulcal CSF volume provide evidence of the brain basis of this personality disorder and emphasize the communality of brain abnormalities in the schizophrenia spectrum.
Koo
Min-Seong
MS
Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Division, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA 02301, USA.
Dickey
Chandlee C
CC
Park
Hae-Jeong
HJ
Kubicki
Marek
M
Ji
Na Young
NY
Bouix
Sylvain
S
Pohl
Kilian M
KM
Levitt
James J
JJ
Nakamura
Motoaki
M
Shenton
Martha E
ME
McCarley
Robert W
RW
D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D019579:Neocortex / Q000473:pathology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D012737:Sex Factors