title: Effects of menopause on brain structural changes in schizophrenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to investigate the influences of menopause on brain morphological changes in schizophrenia using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty female schizophrenia patients, 20 premenopausal and 20 postmenopausal, and 50 female controls underwent cerebral MRI. Optimized voxel-based morphometry was performed with Statistical Parametric Mapping version 5.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with controls, regional gray matter reductions in schizophrenia patients were observed in the insula, superior temporal gyrus, anterior cingulate, parahippocampal gyrus, and thalamus. Direct comparison between the patient groups showed that the gray matter of postmenopausal patients was significantly smaller when compared with premenopausal patients in the left middle frontal gyrus, and no region had significantly lower gray matter volume in premenopausal patients relative to postmenopausal patients. Significant negative correlation between gray matter volume and the interval after menopause was found in the right superior frontal gyrus in the postmenopause patient group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Differential morphological alterations between postmenopausal and premenopausal schizophrenia patients were observed, suggesting that the female hormone plays a protective role against schizophrenia.
authors: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Hajime
authors: H
authors: Fukuta
authors: Itsuo
authors: I
authors: Ito
authors: Amane
authors: A
authors: Tateno
authors: Tsuyoshi
authors: T
authors: Nogami
authors: Yasutomo
authors: Y
authors: Taiji
authors: Ryosuke
authors: R
authors: Arakawa
authors: Tetsuya
authors: T
authors: Suhara
authors: Kunihiko
authors: K
authors: Asai
authors: Yoshiro
authors: Y
authors: Okubo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents