Localised reductions in gyrification in the posterior cingulate: schizophrenia and controls.
Several authors report changes in the volume and degree of cortical folding in several presumptive regions of schizophrenia patients. However, no research, to our knowledge, has looked for schizophrenia related differences in cortical volume and degree of cortical folding in post-mortem posterior cingulate cortex (PCCx).


METHODS
Brain tissues from 9 people who suffered from schizophrenia (DSM-IV) and 9 controls were cut into 3 mm coronal slices. Three alternative PCCx blocks were available for research. The 3 PCCx blocks were cut into 50 microm sections. The volume and gyrification index (GI) were measured in 15 tissue sections per brain (5 sections per block).


RESULTS
People who suffered with schizophrenia showed significant reductions in GI in rostral PCCx, trend reductions were seen in medial and caudal PCCx. In addition, the average volume of the rostral tissue sections was significantly lower in the schizophrenia cohort, suggesting that schizophrenia is associated with reduced volume in the rostral PCCx. However, a true volumetric assessment of the whole PCCx, rather than a limited number of sections from three alternative blocks, is needed to confirm such a hypothesis.
Wheeler
David G
DG
Department of Pathology, 5th Floor, Blackburn building D06, The University of Sydney, NSW, Sydney 2006, Australia. wheeler@med.USyd.Edu.au
Harper
Clive G
CG
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods