title: Hippocampal and amygdalar volume changes in elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.
abstract: Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and schizophrenia display cognitive, behavioural disturbances and morphological abnormalities. Although these latter reflect progressive neurodegeneration in AD, their significance in schizophrenia is still unclear. We explored the patterns of hippocampal and amygdalar atrophy in those patients and their associations with clinical parameters. Structural magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 20 elderly schizophrenia patients, 20 AD and 19 healthy older controls. Hippocampal and amygdalar volumes were obtained by manual segmentation with a standardized protocol and compared among groups. In both schizophrenia and AD patients, left hippocampal and amygdalar volumes were significantly smaller. The hippocampus/amygdala ratio was significantly lower in schizophrenia compared to both AD cases [2.4 bilaterally, 95% C.I. 2.2 to 2.7] and healthy controls bilaterally [2.5, 95% C.I. 2.3 to 2.9 in left and 2.7, 95% C.I. 2.4 to 3.1 in right hemisphere]. In schizophrenia patients, a significant positive correlation was found between age at disease onset and the right hippocampus/amygdala volume ratio (Spearman rho=0.56). Negative symptoms correlated with higher right/left amygdala volume ratio (Spearman's rho=0.43). Our data show that unlike AD, the hippocampus/amygdala ratio is abnormally low and correlates with the age at onset in schizophrenia, being a neurodevelopmental signature of the disease.
authors: LENITEM-Laboratory of Epidemiology, Neuroimaging and Telemedicine, IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio FBF, The National Centre for Research and Care of Alzheimer's and Mental Diseases, Brescia, Italy.
authors: Annapaola
authors: A
authors: Prestia
authors: Marina
authors: M
authors: Boccardi
authors: Samantha
authors: S
authors: Galluzzi
authors: Enrica
authors: E
authors: Cavedo
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Adorni
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Soricelli
authors: Matteo
authors: M
authors: Bonetti
authors: Cristina
authors: C
authors: Geroldi
authors: Panteleimon
authors: P
authors: Giannakopoulos
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Thompson
authors: Giovanni
authors: G
authors: Frisoni
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*