title: Gray matter volume deficits are associated with motor and attentional impairments in adolescents with schizophrenia.
abstract: Cognitive deficits have been well described in adolescents with schizophrenia, but little is known about the neuroanatomical basis of these abnormalities. The authors examined whether neuropsychological deficits observed in adolescents with schizophrenia were associated with cortical gray matter volume deficits. Volumes of the superior frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate gyrus and orbital frontal lobe were outlined manually from contiguous MR images and automatically segmented into gray and white matter in 52 patients and 48 healthy volunteers. Subjects received a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery, assessing five different functional domains: executive, attention, verbal memory, motor and sensory motor. Children and adolescents with schizophrenia were found to have lower total cortical and lower superior frontal gyrus gray matter volumes and lower test scores across all functional domains compared to healthy volunteers. Among patients, the lower total cortical gray matter volume was associated with worse functioning on the attention and motor domains. Our findings point to widespread, perhaps multifocal, pathology as contributing to cognitive dysfunction in adolescents with schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Department of Psychiatry, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA. kumra002@umn.edu
authors.forename: Sanjiv
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumra
authors.forename: Manzar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ashtari
authors.forename: Jinghui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Donaya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hongwanishkul
authors.forename: Tonya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cervellione
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cottone
authors.forename: Philip R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Szeszko
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011932:Reading; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012677:Sensation
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents