N-Acetyl-Aspartate in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in men with schizophrenia and auditory verbal hallucinations: A 1.5 T Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study

Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 7;8(1):4133. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22597-y.

Abstract

Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) in patients with schizophrenia are linked to abnormalities within a large cerebral network including frontal and temporal regions. Whilst abnormalities of frontal speech production and temporal speech perception regions have been extensively studied, alterations of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a region critically involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, have rarely been studied in relation to AVH. Using 1.5 T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, this study examined the relationship between right and left DLPFCs N-AcetylAspartate (NAA) levels and the severity of AVH in patients with schizophrenia. Twenty-seven male patients with schizophrenia were enrolled in this study, 15 presented daily treatment-resistant AVH (AVH+) and 12 reported no AVH (no-AVH). AVH+ patients displayed higher NAA levels in the right DLPFC than no-AVH patients (p = 0.033). In AVH+ patients, NAA levels were higher in the right DLPFC than in the left (p = 0.024). No difference between the right and left DLPFC was observed in no-AVH patients. There was a positive correlation between NAA levels in the right DLPFC and the severity of AVH (r = 0.404, p = 0.037). Despite limited by magnetic field strength, these results suggest that AVH may be associated with increased NAA levels in the right DLPFC in schizophrenia.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aspartic Acid / analogs & derivatives*
  • Aspartic Acid / metabolism
  • Hallucinations / metabolism*
  • Hallucinations / pathology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy*
  • Schizophrenia / metabolism*
  • Schizophrenia / pathology
  • Speech Perception*
  • Temporal Lobe / metabolism*
  • Temporal Lobe / pathology

Substances

  • Aspartic Acid
  • N-acetylaspartate