Goghari Vina M, Rehm Kelly, Carter Cameron S, MacDonald Angus W
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA.
Cereb Cortex. 2007 Feb;17(2):415-24. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhj158. Epub 2006 Mar 17.
Accumulated evidence suggests that schizophrenia is associated with subtle gray matter deficits throughout the cerebral cortex and regional cortical thinning. Although findings are not entirely consistent, healthy relatives of schizophrenia patients also show abnormalities in cortical gray matter volume, suggesting that this may be one aspect of an unexpressed genetic liability to the disorder. Cortical thickness and surface area are additional indicators of cortical cytoarchitectural integrity. To investigate the nature of cortical abnormalities in the healthy relatives of patients, this study used magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate gray matter volume, surface area, and thickness of 13 regions using an automated parcellation methodology. Compared with controls (n = 22), relatives (n = 19) had decreased volume and surface area in the right cingulate gyrus, a bilateral decrease in cingulate thickness, and decreased surface area in the superior temporal lobe. In addition, relatives had a subtle increase in gray matter volume and surface area in the left hemisphere, bilaterally in the parahippocampal gyri, and in the left middle temporal lobe. The results of this study suggest that the cortical regions most affected by the unexpressed genetic liability to schizophrenia may be the cingulate and temporal regions--regions associated with higher level cognitive, affective, and memory functions.
越来越多的证据表明，精神分裂症与整个大脑皮层细微的灰质缺陷以及局部皮层变薄有关。尽管研究结果并不完全一致，但精神分裂症患者的健康亲属在皮层灰质体积上也表现出异常，这表明这可能是该疾病潜在遗传易感性的一个方面。皮层厚度和表面积是皮层细胞结构完整性的额外指标。为了研究患者健康亲属中皮层异常的本质，本研究使用磁共振成像，采用自动分割方法评估了13个区域的灰质体积、表面积和厚度。与对照组（n = 22）相比，亲属组（n = 19）右侧扣带回的体积和表面积减小，扣带回厚度双侧减小，颞上叶表面积减小。此外，亲属组左半球、双侧海马旁回以及左颞中回的灰质体积和表面积有细微增加。本研究结果表明，受精神分裂症潜在遗传易感性影响最大的皮层区域可能是扣带回和颞叶区域——这些区域与高级认知、情感和记忆功能相关。
