Diffusion tensor imaging study of the anterior limb of internal capsules in neuroleptic-naive schizophrenia.
OBJECTIVE
Abnormalities in brain structure have been implicated in psychosis. Herein, we investigated the differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) and average diffusion coefficient (ADC) in the bilateral anterior limb of internal capsules between neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic patients and appropriately matched healthy controls.


METHODS
Magnetic resonance imaging was performed with a 1.5 T superconductive MR scanner, and diffusion tensor imaging was carried out in 21 neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic patients and 18 matched healthy controls. FA and ADC were measured by region of interest analysis.


RESULTS
Compared with healthy controls, the neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic patients showed significantly reduced FA in the bilateral anterior limb of the internal capsule. However, the difference in the ADC values between the patients and the controls was not significant.


CONCLUSIONS
FA of the bilateral anterior limb of the internal capsule was reduced in neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic patients, indicating that the integrity of the white matter of the bilateral thalamus-frontal connection or the bilateral thalamus-anterior cingulate gyrus connection was destroyed.
Zou
Li-qiu
LQ
Department of Radiology, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083, P.R. China.
Xie
Jing-xia
JX
Yuan
Hui-shu
HS
Pei
Xin-long
XL
Dong
Wen-tian
WT
Liu
Peng-cheng
PC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D020772:Internal Capsule / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000473:pathology
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents