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Cingulate fasciculus integrity disruption in schizophrenia: a magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging study.
Marek Kubicki1, Carl-Fredrik Westin, Paul G Nestor
1Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Boston VA Healthcare System-Brockton Division, and Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Brockton, Massachusetts 02301, USA.
Biological Psychiatry
|December 4, 2003
Summary
Schizophrenia patients show disruptions in the cingulum bundle (CB), a key white matter tract. This cingulum bundle damage correlates with attention and working memory deficits in individuals with schizophrenia.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Limbic system network integrity, particularly the cingulate gyrus (CG), is implicated in schizophrenia.
- The cingulum bundle (CB), a crucial white matter tract connecting to the CG, has not been previously studied in schizophrenia using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate white matter integrity of the cingulum bundle (CB) in schizophrenia patients using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
- To explore the relationship between CB abnormalities and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.
Main Methods:
- Line scan diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was employed to assess diffusion in the CB.
- 16 male schizophrenia patients and 18 age- and demographically-matched male control subjects were included.
- Fractional anisotropy (FA) maps were generated to quantify diffusion within the left and right CB.
Main Results:
- Schizophrenia patients exhibited significantly smaller CB area and reduced mean FA bilaterally compared to controls.
- Decreased left CB integrity in patients correlated significantly with poorer performance on attention and working memory tasks (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test).
Conclusions:
- These findings provide strong evidence for cingulum bundle (CB) microstructural disruptions in schizophrenia.
- CB abnormalities may underlie the attention and working memory deficits observed in schizophrenia patients.