Fronto-Temporal Disconnectivity in Schizotypal Personality Disorder: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

M. Nakamura, R. W. McCarley, M. Kubicki, C. C. Dickey, M. A. Niznikiewicz, M. M. Voglmaier, L. J. Seidman, S. E. Maier, C.-F. Westin, R. Kikinis, M. E. Shenton
Biological Psychiatry
Volume 58, Number 6, Pages 468-478
2005

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Abstract

In the present study, we evaluated white matter integrity of the UF and CB, using anisotropy (fractional anisotropy; FA) and diffusivity (mean diffusivity; Dm) of water molecule movement (Papadakis et al 1999) in SPD and control subjects. We also evaluated the cross-sectional area, using a directional threshold method (Kubicki et al 2002a, 2003). We selected these two fiber tracts because our group has shown them to be abnormal in schizophrenia (Kubicki et al 2002a, 2003). We also note that the UF interconnects with the anterior temporal and inferior frontal cortices (Ebeling and von Cramon 1992; Kier et al 2004; Klingler and Gloor 1960; Kondo et al 2003; Petrides and Pandya 1988; Ungerleider et al 1989) and that the CB connects the cingulate gyri with prefrontal, temporal, and parietal areas (Goldman- Rakic 1988; Vogt et al 1979), regions likely important in schizophrenia and by extension SPD. We hypothesize that UF and CB white matter integrity might also be altered in an unmedicated SPD population. To our knowledge, this is the first study applying DTI techniques to SPD.

Definition of fiber bundles. (Left panel) Three-directional principal diffusion components having the largest eigenvalues (1) on the coronal plane of the fractional anisotropy (FA) map.Weused the out-of-plane principal diffusion component ofmaximumdiffusivity (1z) to define both bundles of uncinate fasciculus (UF) and cingulum bundle (CB) semi-automatically. The common threshold was 1.1 m2/msec for both bundles in all cases for both groups. (Right panel) Uncinate fasciculus (red) and CB (blue) on FA maps of a normal control subject (NC) and a schizotypal personality disorder subject (SPD). Note the smaller area and decreased intensity in UF of the SPD subject (indicated by red arrows). R, right; L, left.

Reference

Nakamura M, McCarley RW, Kubicki M, Dickey CC, Niznikiewicz MA, Voglmaier MM, Seidman LJ, Maier SE, Westin CF, Kikinis R, Shenton ME. Fronto-temporal disconnectivity in schizotypal personality disorder: A diffusion tensor imaging study. Biological Psychiatry 2005;58(6):468-478.

Bibtex entry

@Article{nakamuraBiologPsych05,
  author         = {M. Nakamura and R. W. McCarley and M. Kubicki and  C. C.   
                   Dickey and M. A. Niznikiewicz and M. M. Voglmaier  and L. J.
                   Seidman and S. E. Maier and C.-F. Westin and  R. Kikinis and
                   M. E. Shenton},                                             
  title          = {Fronto-Temporal Disconnectivity in Schizotypal  Personality
                   Disorder: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study},                
  journal        = {Biological Psychiatry},                                    
  year           = {2005},                                                     
  volume         = {58},                                                       
  number         = {6},                                                        
  pages          = {468--478}
}

Grants

NIH K02-MH01110, NIH R01-MH50747, NIH R01-MH40799, NIH R03-MH068464, NIH U54-EB005149 (NAMIC)

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