title: Reduced white matter fractional anisotropy and clinical symptoms in schizophrenia: a voxel-based diffusion tensor imaging study.
abstract: Although not consistently replicated, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies in schizophrenia have revealed lower fractional anisotropy (FA) in various white matter regions, a finding consistent with the disruption of white matter integrity. In this study, we used voxel-based DTI to investigate possible whole-brain differences in the white matter FA values between 58 schizophrenia patients and 58 healthy controls. We also explored the association between FA values and clinical symptoms in schizophrenia. Compared with the controls, the schizophrenia patients showed significant FA reductions in bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus, bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, and genu of right internal capsule. Furthermore, in the patient group, the FA value of the anterior part of the corpus callosum was negatively correlated with the avolition score on the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms. These findings suggest widespread disruption of white matter integrity in schizophrenia, which could partly explain the severity of negative symptomatology.
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, University of Toyama Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194, Japan. krnaka@med.u-toyama.ac.jp
authors: Kazue
authors: K
authors: Nakamura
authors: Yasuhiro
authors: Y
authors: Kawasaki
authors: Tsutomu
authors: T
authors: Takahashi
authors: Atsushi
authors: A
authors: Furuichi
authors: Kyo
authors: K
authors: Noguchi
authors: Hikaru
authors: H
authors: Seto
authors: Michio
authors: M
authors: Suzuki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D055815:Young Adult