Increased Frontal Gyrification Negatively Correlates with Executive Function in Patients with First-Episode Schizophrenia.
Previous neuroimaging studies of gyrification, a possible marker of early neurodevelopment, in schizophrenia patients have reported inconsistent results. In addition, it remains unclear whether aberrant gyrification in schizophrenia patients, if present, is associated with cognitive impairment, which is one of the core features of schizophrenia. Magnetic resonance images were obtained from 62 patients with first-episode schizophrenia and 57 healthy control subjects. Using FreeSurfer software, local gyrification index (LGI) of the entire cortex was compared between the groups. The relationship between LGI and performance in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) was also examined in a subgroup of patients (n= 28). Compared with the controls, the patients showed a significantly higher LGI in a wide range of bilateral frontal regions as well as in the right inferior parietal and bilateral occipital regions. The number of WCST categories archived in patients was negatively correlated with the LGI mainly in the rostral middle frontal and anterior cingulate regions in the right hemisphere. Our findings suggested a widespread hypergyrification pattern in schizophrenia patients, which supported early neurodevelopmental abnormalities. Our results also suggested that executive dysfunction in schizophrenia patients may be at least partly related to aberrant neurodevelopment, especially in the right frontal regions.
Department of Neuropsychiatry.
Daiki
D
Sasabayashi
Department of Neuropsychiatry.
Yoichiro
Y
Takayanagi
Department of Neuropsychiatry.
Shimako
S
Nishiyama
Department of Neuropsychiatry.
Tsutomu
T
Takahashi
Department of Neuropsychiatry.
Atsushi
A
Furuichi
Department of Neuropsychiatry.
Mikio
M
Kido
Department of Neuropsychiatry.
Yumiko
Y
Nishikawa
Department of Neuropsychiatry.
Mihoko
M
Nakamura
Department of Radiology, University of Toyama Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sugitani, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
Kyo
K
Noguchi
Department of Neuropsychiatry.
Michio
M
Suzuki
D000328:Adult; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D059906:Neuroimaging; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; cognitive impairment; first-episode schizophrenia; local gyrification index; magnetic resonance imaging