title: Regional change in brain morphometry in schizophrenia associated with antipsychotic treatment.
abstract: The purpose of this pilot study was to: (1) determine if regional brain volume change occurs in schizophrenia patients during very short periods of withdrawal from, or stable treatment with, antipsychotics, and; (2) compare results of region-of-interest (ROI) to voxel-based morphometry (VBM) methods. In two small groups of schizophrenic inpatients, magnetic resonance imaging was performed before and after antipsychotic withdrawal, and at two time points during stable chronic antipsychotic treatment. Regional brain volumes were measured using ROI methods. Grey matter volume was measured with VBM. The medication withdrawal group showed no effect of treatment state or antipsychotic type on regional brain volumes with ROI analysis, but effects of both treatment state and antipsychotic type on grey matter volume were observed with VBM in right middle frontal, right medial frontal, right and left superior frontal, right cingulate, and right superior temporal gyrii as well as in the right and left hippocampal gyrii. The chronic stable treatment group showed an effect of time on right caudate, left hippocampal, and total cerebrospinal fluid volumes with ROI analysis, while effects of both time and antipsychotic type were observed with VBM on grey matter volume in the left superior temporal lobe. No findings survived correction for multiple comparisons. A positive correlation between regional volume change and emerging psychopathology was demonstrated using ROI methods in the medication withdrawal group. Treatment state and emergent symptoms in schizophrenia patients were associated with regional volume change over very short time periods. Longitudinal regional brain volume change in schizophrenia patients is likely physiologic and therefore potentially reversible.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Psychiatry, Chapel Hill, NC 27510-7160, USA. robert_mcclure@med.unc.edu
authors.forename: Robert K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: McClure
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: Roukan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jazayerli
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Weinberger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001284:Atrophy; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents