An MRI study of the superior temporal subregions in first-episode patients with various psychotic disorders.
Morphologic abnormalities of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) have been reported in schizophrenia, but have not been extensively studied in other psychotic disorders such as affective psychosis. In the present study, magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine the volumes of the STG and its subregions [planum polare (PP), Heschl gyrus (HG), planum temporale (PT), rostral STG, and caudal STG] in 162 first-episode patients with various psychotic disorders [46 schizophrenia (31 schizophrenia and 15 schizoaffective disorder), 57 schizophreniform disorder, 34 affective psychosis, and 25 other psychoses] and 62 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The first-episode schizophrenia patients had significantly less gray matter in HG, PT, and caudal STG bilaterally compared with all other groups, but there was no difference between the controls and affective psychosis, schizophreniform disorder, or other psychoses for any STG subregion. The STG white matter volume did not differ between groups. Our findings indicate that morphologic abnormalities of the STG gray matter are specific to schizophrenia among various psychotic disorders, implicating its role in the underlying pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
Takahashi
Tsutomu
T
Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Victoria, Australia. tsutomu@med.u-toyama.ac.jp
Wood
Stephen J
SJ
Soulsby
Bridget
B
Kawasaki
Yasuhiro
Y
McGorry
Patrick D
PD
Suzuki
Michio
M
Velakoulis
Dennis
D
Pantelis
Christos
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult