Hypothalamus volume in twin pairs discordant for schizophrenia.
Monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic twin pairs discordant for schizophrenia were compared with matched control twin pairs in order to disentangle genetic and environmental contributions to variation in hypothalamus volume. A decrease in hypothalamus volume was found in patients or discordant twin pairs compared to healthy controls which could be attributed to the decrease in total brain volume. Higher within-twin pair similarities in monozygotic compared to dizygotic twin pairs, suggests that hypothalamus volume might be partly genetically controlled.
Koolschijn
P Cédric M P
PC
Rudolf Magnus Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. p.c.m.p.koolschijn@umcutrecht.nl <p.c.m.p.koolschijn@umcutrecht.nl>
van Haren
Neeltje E M
NE
Hulshoff Pol
Hilleke E
HE
Kahn
René S
RS
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000473:pathology*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic