Cerebral asymmetry in patients with schizophrenia: a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study

J Magn Reson Imaging. 2010 Jan;31(1):221-6. doi: 10.1002/jmri.22017.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the differences in gray- and white-matter asymmetry between schizophrenia patients and normal subjects.

Materials and methods: Forty-eight right-handed patients with chronic schizophrenia (24 males and 24 females) and 48 right-handed age- and sex-matched healthy controls (24 males and 24 females) were included in this study. The effects of diagnosis on gray-matter volume asymmetry and white-matter fractional anisotropy (FA) asymmetry were evaluated with use of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and voxel-based analysis of FA maps derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), respectively.

Results: The mean gray- and white-matter volumes were significantly smaller in the schizophrenia group than in the control group. The voxel-based morphometry (VBM) showed no significant effect of diagnosis on gray-matter volume asymmetry. The voxel-based analysis of DTI also showed no significant effect of diagnosis on white-matter FA asymmetry.

Conclusion: Our results of voxel-based analyses showed no significant differences in either gray-matter volume asymmetry or white-matter FA asymmetry between schizophrenia patients and normal subjects.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Algorithms*
  • Cerebrum / pathology*
  • Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Image Enhancement / methods
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Male
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Schizophrenia / pathology*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity