title: A voxel-based diffusion tensor imaging study of temporal white matter in patients with schizophrenia.
abstract: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a relatively new technique used to detect changes in the anisotropic diffusion of white matter. The study of the disruption of brain connectivity may increase our understanding of cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia. Here we analysed DTI data in 25 patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia and 24 healthy controls. Two complementary measures, fractional anisotropy (FA) and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), were considered and analysed using voxel-based morphometry. Declarative memory functions were also investigated and their associations with DTI data were analysed. FA was significantly reduced, and the ADC increased in the left sub-gyral white matter of the temporal lobe, which involves the posterior part of the fornix. In the schizophrenic group, females had lower FA than males in the genu of the corpus callosum. Memory functions correlate with FA values. These data provide further evidence for the disruption of white matter connectivity in the left medial temporal lobe, and for its contribution to the declarative memory deficit in schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Institute of Biomedical Research August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rametti
authors.forename: Carme
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Junqué
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Falcón
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bargalló
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Catalán
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Penadés
authors.forename: Benjamín
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Garzón
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernardo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D020712:Fornix, Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology