Smaller superior temporal gyrus volume specificity in schizotypal personality disorder.
BACKGROUND
Superior temporal gyrus (STG/BA22) volume is reduced in schizophrenia and to a milder degree in schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), representing a less severe disorder in the schizophrenia spectrum. SPD and Borderline personality disorder (BPD) are severe personality disorders characterized by social and cognitive dysfunction. However, while SPD is characterized by social withdrawal/anhedonia, BPD is marked by hyper-reactivity to interpersonal stimuli and hyper-emotionality. This is the first morphometric study to directly compare SPD and BPD patients in temporal lobe volume.


METHODS
We compared three age-, sex-, and education-matched groups: 27 unmedicated SPD individuals with no BPD traits, 52 unmedicated BPD individuals with no SPD traits, and 45 healthy controls. We examined gray matter volume of frontal and temporal lobe Brodmann areas (BAs), and dorsal/ventral amygdala from 3-T magnetic resonance imaging.


RESULTS
In the STG, an auditory association area reported to be dysfunctional in SPD and BPD, the SPD patients had significantly smaller volume than healthy controls and BPD patients. No group differences were found between BPD patients and controls. Smaller BA22 volume was associated with greater symptom severity in SPD patients. Reduced STG volume may be an important endophenotype for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. SPD is distinct from BPD in terms of STG volume abnormalities which may reflect different underlying pathophysiological mechanisms and could help discriminate between them.
Goldstein
Kim E
KE
Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029, USA.
Hazlett
Erin A
EA
New
Antonia S
AS
Haznedar
M Mehmet
MM
Newmark
Randall E
RE
Zelmanova
Yuliya
Y
Passarelli
Vincent
V
Weinstein
Shauna R
SR
Canfield
Emily L
EL
Meyerson
David A
DA
Tang
Cheuk Y
CY
Buchsbaum
Monte S
MS
Siever
Larry J
LJ
D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000473:pathology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult