title: Hippocampal and amygdalar local structural differences in elderly patients with schizophrenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Morphological abnormalities have been reported for the hippocampi and amygdalae in young schizophrenia patients, but very little is known about the pattern of abnormalities in elderly schizophrenia patients. Here we investigated local structural differences in the hippocampi and amygdalae of elderly schizophrenia patients compared with healthy elderly subjects. We also related these differences to clinical symptom severity.
  
  
  METHODS
  20 schizophrenia patients (mean age: 67.4 ± 6.2 years; Mini-Mental State Exam: 22.8 ± 4.4) and 20 healthy elderly subjects (70.3 ± 7.5 years; 29.0 ± 1.1) underwent high resolution magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. The Radial Atrophy Mapping technique was used to reconstruct the 3D shape of the amygdala and the hippocampus. Local differences in tissue reductions were computed between groups and permutation tests were run to correct for multiple comparisons, in statistical maps thresholded at p = 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant tissue reduction was observed bilaterally in the amygdala and hippocampus of schizophrenia patients. The basolateral-ventral-medial amygdalar nucleus showed the greatest involvement, with over 30% local tissue reduction. The centro-medial, cortical, and lateral nuclei were also atrophic in patients. The hippocampus showed significant tissue loss in the medio-caudal and antero-lateral aspects of CA1, and in medial section of its left head (pre- and para-subiculum). In the left amygdala and hippocampus, local tissue volumes were significantly correlated with negative symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tissue loss and altered morphology were found in elderly schizophrenia patients. Tissue loss mapped to amygdalo-hippocampal subregions known to have bidirectional and specific connections with frontal cortical and limbic structures and was related to clinical severity.
authors.affiliation: LENITEM Laboratory of Epidemiology, Neuroimaging, & Telemedicine - IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio-FBF, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Annapaola
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prestia
authors.affiliation: LENITEM Laboratory of Epidemiology, Neuroimaging, & Telemedicine - IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio-FBF, Brescia, Italy; Cognition, Neuroimaging, and Brain Diseases Laboratory, Centre de Recherche de l'Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Épinière (CRICM-UMRS 975), Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, France.
authors.forename: Enrica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cavedo
authors.affiliation: LENITEM Laboratory of Epidemiology, Neuroimaging, & Telemedicine - IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio-FBF, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boccardi
authors.affiliation: LENITEM Laboratory of Epidemiology, Neuroimaging, & Telemedicine - IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio-FBF, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Muscio
authors.affiliation: Psychogeriatric Ward - IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio-FBF, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adorni
authors.affiliation: LENITEM Laboratory of Epidemiology, Neuroimaging, & Telemedicine - IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio-FBF, Brescia, Italy; Psychogeriatric Ward - IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio-FBF, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Geroldi
authors.affiliation: Service of Neuroradiology, Istituto Clinico Citta' di Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bonetti
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA.
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: LENITEM Laboratory of Epidemiology, Neuroimaging, & Telemedicine - IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio-FBF, Brescia, Italy; Memory Clinic and Laboratoire de Neuroimagerie du Vieillissement (LANVIE), University Hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva, CH. Electronic address: gfrisoni@fatebenefratelli.it.
authors.forename: Giovanni B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Frisoni
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: 3D-shape; Elders; amygdala; hippocampus; schizophrenia; volumetric imaging