title: Spatial characteristics of white matter abnormalities in schizophrenia.
abstract: There is considerable evidence implicating brain white matter (WM) abnormalities in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia; however, the spatial localization of WM abnormalities reported in the existing studies is heterogeneous. Thus, the goal of this study was to quantify the spatial characteristics of WM abnormalities in schizophrenia. One hundred and fourteen patients with schizophrenia and 138 matched controls participated in this multisite study involving the Universities of Iowa, Minnesota, and New Mexico, and the Massachusetts General Hospital. We measured fractional anisotropy (FA) in brain WM regions extracted using 3 different image-processing algorithms: regions of interest, tract-based spatial statistics, and the pothole approach. We found that FA was significantly lower in patients using each of the 3 image-processing algorithms. The region-of-interest approach showed multiple regions with lower FA in patients with schizophrenia, with overlap at all 4 sites in the corpus callosum and posterior thalamic radiation. The tract-based spatial statistic approach showed (1) global differences in 3 of the 4 cohorts and (2) lower frontal FA at the Iowa site. Finally, the pothole approach showed a significantly greater number of WM potholes in patients compared to controls at each of the 4 sites. In conclusion, the spatial characteristics of WM abnormalities in schizophrenia reflect a combination of a global low-level decrease in FA, suggesting a diffuse process, coupled with widely dispersed focal reductions in FA that vary spatially among individuals (ie, potholes).
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. t.white@erasmusmc.nl
authors.forename: Tonya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ehrlich
authors.forename: Beng-Choon
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Dara S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Manoach
authors.forename: Arvind
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caprihan
authors.forename: S Charles
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: Nancy C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Andreasen
authors.forename: Randy L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Gollub
authors.forename: Vince D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Calhoun
authors.forename: Vincent A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Magnotta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000473:pathology; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D056784:Leukoencephalopathies / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013788:Thalamus / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult