Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 446 E. Ontario, Suite 7-100, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Schizophr Res. 2012 Aug;139(1-3):1-6. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2012.05.002. Epub 2012 May 29.
Cortical abnormalities are considered a neurobiological characteristic of schizophrenia. However, the pattern of such deficits as they progress over the illness remains poorly understood. The goal of this project was to assess the progression of cortical thinning in frontal and temporal cortical regions in schizophrenia, and determine whether relationships exist between them and neuropsychological and clinical symptom profiles. As part of a larger longitudinal 2-year follow-up study, schizophrenia (n=20) and healthy participants (n=20) group-matched for age, gender, and recent-alcohol use, were selected. Using MRI, estimates of gray matter thickness were derived from primary anatomical gyri of the frontal and temporal lobes using surface-based algorithms. These values were entered into repeated-measures analysis of variance models to determine group status and time effects. Change values in cortical regions were correlated with changes in neuropsychological functioning and clinical symptomatology. Results revealed exaggerated cortical thinning of the middle frontal, superior temporal, and middle temporal gyri in schizophrenia participants. These thickness changes strongly influenced volumetric reductions, but were not related to shrinking surface area. Neuropsychological and clinical symptom profiles were stable in the schizophrenia participants despite these neuroanatomic changes. Overall it appears that ongoing abnormalities in the cerebral cortex continue after initial onset of schizophrenia, particularly the lateral aspects of frontal and temporal regions, and do not relate to neuropsychological or clinical measures over time. Maintenance of neuropsychological performance and clinical stability in the face of changing neuroanatomical structure suggests the involvement of alternative compensatory mechanisms.
皮质异常被认为是精神分裂症的一种神经生物学特征。然而，这种缺陷在疾病发展过程中的模式仍然知之甚少。本项目的目的是评估精神分裂症患者额颞皮质区域皮质变薄的进展情况，并确定它们与神经心理学和临床症状特征之间是否存在关系。作为一项更大的纵向 2 年随访研究的一部分，选择了精神分裂症（n=20）和健康对照组（n=20），这些对照组在年龄、性别和近期饮酒方面与患者相匹配。使用 MRI，使用基于表面的算法从额颞叶的主要解剖回提取灰质厚度的估计值。这些值被输入重复测量方差分析模型，以确定组状态和时间效应。皮质区域的变化值与神经心理学功能和临床症状学的变化相关。结果显示，精神分裂症患者的中间额回、上颞回和中颞回的皮质变薄明显。这些厚度变化强烈影响体积减少，但与表面积缩小无关。尽管存在这些神经解剖学变化，精神分裂症患者的神经心理学和临床症状学特征仍然稳定。总的来说，似乎在精神分裂症首次发作后，大脑皮层的持续异常仍在继续，特别是额颞区域的外侧部分，并且与随时间变化的神经心理学或临床测量无关。在不断变化的神经解剖结构下保持神经心理学表现和临床稳定性表明存在替代补偿机制。
