title: Cerebral white matter abnormalities and their associations with negative but not positive symptoms of schizophrenia.
abstract: Although diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have reported fractional anisotropy (FA) abnormalities in multiple white matter (WM) regions in schizophrenia, relationship between abnormal FA and negative symptoms has not been fully explored. DTI data were acquired from twenty-four patients with chronic schizophrenia and twenty-five healthy controls. Regional brain abnormalities were evaluated by conducting FA comparisons in the cerebral and each lobar WMs between groups. Focal abnormalities were also evaluated with a voxel-wise tract specific method. Associations between structural WM changes and negative symptoms were assessed using the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS). The patient group showed decreased FA in the cerebrum, especially in the frontal lobe, compared with controls. A voxel-wise analysis showed FA decreases in almost all WM tracts in schizophrenia. Correlation analyses demonstrated negative relationships between FA in the cerebrum, particularly in the left hemisphere, and SANS global and global rating scores (Anhedonia-Asociality, Attention, and Affective-Flattening), and also associations between FA of left frontal lobe and SANS global score, Anhedonia-Asociality, and Attention. This study demonstrates that patients with chronic schizophrenia evince widespread cerebral FA abnormalities and that these abnormalities, especially in the left hemisphere, are associated with negative symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroscience, Clinical Neuroscience Division, Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Division, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA; Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women׳s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Asami
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroscience, Clinical Neuroscience Division, Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Division, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA; Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women׳s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Sang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hyuk Lee
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women׳s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bouix
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women׳s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Yogesh
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rathi
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women׳s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Whitford
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroscience, Clinical Neuroscience Division, Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Division, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niznikiewicz
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroscience, Clinical Neuroscience Division, Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Division, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nestor
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroscience, Clinical Neuroscience Division, Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Division, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: McCarley
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroscience, Clinical Neuroscience Division, Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Division, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA; Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women׳s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Surgical Planning Laboratory, MRI Division, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women׳s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Martha E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Shenton
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroscience, Clinical Neuroscience Division, Department of Psychiatry, Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Division, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, MA, USA; Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women׳s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Surgical Planning Laboratory, MRI Division, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women׳s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: kubicki@bwh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kubicki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000502:physiology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI); Fractional anisotropy (FA); Frontal lobe; Negative symptoms; Schizophrenia; Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS)