title: Reduced left uncinate fasciculus fractional anisotropy in deficit schizophrenia but not in non-deficit schizophrenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder manifesting with heterogeneous symptom clusters and clinical presentations. The deficit syndrome is the condition defined by the existence of primarily negative symptoms, and patients with the deficit syndrome differ from non-deficit patients on measures of brain structure and function. In the current study, by using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), we investigated the frontotemporal connectivity that is hypothesized to differ between deficit and non-deficit schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-nine patients and 17 healthy controls were included in the study. The patients had deficit (n = 11) or non-deficit (n = 18) schizophrenia and they were evaluated clinically with the Schedule for Deficit Syndrome (SDS) and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Diffusion-based images were obtained with a 1.5T Siemens Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine and analyses were carried out with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain Library Software - Diffusion tool box software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The fractional anisotropy values in the left uncinate fasciculus of schizophrenia patients with the deficit syndrome were lower than those of non-deficit patients and the controls. There were no differences between non-deficit schizophrenia patients and controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings provide evidence of left uncinate fasciculus damage resulting in disrupted communication between orbitofrontal prefrontal areas and temporal areas in deficit schizophrenia patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroradiology, SoCAT Project, Ege University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kitis
authors.forename: Ozgun
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozalay
authors.forename: E Burcak
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Zengin
authors.forename: Damla
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Haznedaroglu
authors.forename: M Cagdas
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Eker
authors.forename: Dilek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yalvac
authors.forename: Kaya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oguz
authors.forename: Kerry
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Coburn
authors.forename: Ali Saffet
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Gonul
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*