title: Neuropsychological disturbance in schizophrenia: a diffusion tensor imaging study.
abstract: Patients with schizophrenia and healthy control subjects underwent both neuropsychological evaluation and magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging, during which the cingulum bundle (CB) and the uncinate fasciculus (UF) were defined with fiber tractography and their integrity was quantified. On the basis of prior findings, it was hypothesized that neuropsychological disturbance in schizophrenia may be characterized, in part, by 2 dissociable functional neuroanatomical relationships: (a) executive functioning-CB integrity and (b) episodic memory-UF integrity. In support of the hypothesis, hierarchical regression results indicated that reduced white matter of the CB and the UF differentially and specifically predicted deficits in executive functioning and memory, respectively. Neuropsychological correlates of the CB also extended to lower generalized intelligence, as well as to reduced visual memory that may be related to failures of contextual monitoring of to-be-remembered scenes. Reduced white matter of the CB and the UF may each make distinct contributions to neuropsychological disturbance in schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA 02125-3393, USA. paul.nestor@umb.edu
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Nestor
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kubicki
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niznikiewicz
authors.forename: Ronald J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Gurrera
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: McCarley
authors.forename: Martha E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Shenton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology