Kopelman Alison, Andreasen Nancy C, Nopoulos Peg
University of Iowa Health Care, Department of Psychiatry, 1-180 MEB, 500 Newton Rd., Iowa City, IA 52242-1057, USA.
Am J Psychiatry. 2005 Oct;162(10):1872-8. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.162.10.1872.
The anterior cingulate gyrus is a pivotal component of brain networks directing affective and cognitive functions, and abnormalities of the anterior cingulate gyrus may be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. However, magnetic resonance imaging studies of the morphology of this region have been few and the results inconsistent. Many of the studies have not accounted for confounding factors such as gender, handedness, or clinical variables such as neuroleptic exposure.
The morphology and clinical correlates of the anterior cingulate gyrus were evaluated in a group of 30 right-handed male subjects with schizophrenia and a comparison group matched for age, sex, and handedness. The patient group was specifically designed to provide measures of multiple phenomenological differences such as severity of illness, duration of illness, and exposure to typical neuroleptics.
The patient group had a significantly larger left anterior cingulate gyrus volume relative to comparison subjects, whereas right anterior cingulate gyrus volume did not differ between groups. Depth of the left anterior cingulate gyrus was significantly correlated with neuroleptic exposure, indicating that greater exposure to neuroleptics was associated with greater cortical depth of this region. There was no significant relationship between anterior cingulate gyrus morphology and duration of illness or severity of symptoms.
Anterior cingulate gyrus depth in subjects with schizophrenia is directly related to typical medication exposure (the greater the exposure, the thicker the anterior cingulate gyrus) but not to other clinical variables such as length of illness or symptom severity. Future research is needed to determine the functional consequences of these changes and relationship to atypical neuroleptic use.
前扣带回是指导情感和认知功能的脑网络的关键组成部分，前扣带回异常可能参与精神分裂症的病理生理过程。然而，关于该区域形态的磁共振成像研究较少，且结果不一致。许多研究未考虑性别、利手等混杂因素，或抗精神病药物暴露等临床变量。
对30名右利手男性精神分裂症患者及一组年龄、性别和利手相匹配的对照组进行前扣带回形态及临床相关性评估。患者组经过专门设计，以提供多种现象学差异的测量指标，如疾病严重程度、病程及典型抗精神病药物暴露情况。
与对照组相比，患者组左侧前扣带回体积显著更大，而两组右侧前扣带回体积无差异。左侧前扣带回深度与抗精神病药物暴露显著相关，表明抗精神病药物暴露越多，该区域皮质越深。前扣带回形态与病程或症状严重程度之间无显著关系。
精神分裂症患者的前扣带回深度与典型药物暴露直接相关（暴露越多，前扣带回越厚），但与病程长短或症状严重程度等其他临床变量无关。需要进一步研究以确定这些变化的功能后果以及与非典型抗精神病药物使用的关系。
