title: Neuroanatomical Abnormalities in Violent Individuals with and without a Diagnosis of Schizophrenia.
abstract: Several structural brain abnormalities have been associated with aggression in patients with schizophrenia. However, little is known about shared and distinct abnormalities underlying aggression in these subjects and non-psychotic violent individuals. We applied a region-of-interest volumetric analysis of the amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus bilaterally, as well as whole brain and ventricular volumes to investigate violent (n = 37) and non-violent chronic patients (n = 26) with schizophrenia, non-psychotic violent (n = 24) as well as healthy control subjects (n = 24). Shared and distinct volumetric abnormalities were probed by analysis of variance with the factors violence (non-violent versus violent) and diagnosis (non-psychotic versus psychotic), adjusted for substance abuse, age, academic achievement and negative psychotic symptoms. Patients showed elevated vCSF volume, smaller left hippocampus and smaller left thalamus volumes. This was particularly the case for non-violent individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. Furthermore, patients had reduction in right thalamus size. With regard to left amygdala, we found an interaction between violence and diagnosis. More specifically, we report a double dissociation with smaller amygdala size linked to violence in non-psychotic individuals, while for psychotic patients smaller size was linked to non-violence. Importantly, the double dissociation appeared to be mostly driven by substance abuse. Overall, we found widespread morphometric abnormalities in subcortical regions in schizophrenia. No evidence for shared volumetric abnormalities in individuals with a history of violence was found. Finally, left amygdala abnormalities in non-psychotic violent individuals were largely accounted for by substance abuse. This might be an indication that the association between amygdala reduction and violence is mediated by substance abuse. Our results indicate the importance of structural abnormalities in aggressive individuals.
authors.affiliation: The Sheryl and Daniel R. Tishman Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC) Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience Albert Einstein College of Medicine Van Etten, New York, United States of America.|Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Victor A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Del Bene
authors.affiliation: The Sheryl and Daniel R. Tishman Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC) Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience Albert Einstein College of Medicine Van Etten, New York, United States of America.|The Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research Orangeburg, NY, United States of America.|The Ernest J. Del Monte Institute for Neuromedicine Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Foxe
authors.affiliation: The Sheryl and Daniel R. Tishman Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC) Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience Albert Einstein College of Medicine Van Etten, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lars A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.affiliation: The Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research Orangeburg, NY, United States of America.|New York University Langone Medical Center Department of Psychiatry New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Menahem I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Krakowski
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Semmelweis University ÜllőiWay 26, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Pal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Czobor
authors.affiliation: The Sheryl and Daniel R. Tishman Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC) Departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience Albert Einstein College of Medicine Van Etten, New York, United States of America.|The Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research Orangeburg, NY, United States of America.|Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research Manhasset, NY, United States of America.|Department of Psychiatry Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine Zucker Hillside Hospital Glen Oaks, NY, United States of America.
authors.forename: Pierfilippo
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2002-2103
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Sanctis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D059906:Neuroimaging; D009929:Organ Size; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D014754:Violence