Thalamic volumes in patients with first-episode schizophrenia
Thalamic volumes in patients with first-episode schizophrenia
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DOI：
10.1176/appi.ajp.158.4.618
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发表时间：
2001-04-01
影响因子：
17.7
通讯作者：
Keshavan, MS
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Gilbert, AR;Rosenberg, DR;Keshavan, MS
目的：丘脑是大脑皮层高度进化的感觉和运动通道，与包括精神分裂症在内的多种疾病的病理生理有关。一些研究表明，精神分裂症患者的丘脑体积存在差异，尽管只有少数研究检查了新发病患者的丘脑结构。方法：作者使用磁共振成像技术测量了16例未接受治疗的首发精神分裂症患者与25例健康对照者的丘脑体积。患者和对照对象的年龄范围为15 ~ 45岁。通过对临床数据的盲法，对左右半球的丘脑体积进行分割和分析，包括单独的丘脑体积和总丘脑体积。丘脑被进一步分割成大致反映单个丘脑核的区域。采用协方差分析控制颅内容积。结果：精神分裂症患者的右、左、总丘脑体积均明显小于对照组。患者的左中央内侧分区体积明显较小，右中央内侧分区体积较小，接近显著性。这些区域主要由背内侧核组成，背内侧核是一种丘脑核，被认为是精神分裂症异常回路的重要组成部分。在左前、右前和右后内侧分支中也观察到显著的体积差异。结论：这些发现提示新诊断的精神分裂症患者与健康对照者的丘脑体积存在显著差异。未来对单个丘脑核的分析可能会揭示丘脑异常和精神分裂症之间重要的、特定的关系。
Objective: The thalamus, a highly evolved sensory and motor gateway to the cortex, has been implicated in the pathophysiology of several illnesses, including schizophrenia. Several studies have suggested thalamic Volume differences in patients with schizophrenia, although only a few studies have examined thalamic structure in new-onset patients.Method: The authors used magnetic resonance imaging to measure thalamic volumes in previously untreated patients with first-episode schizophrenia (N=16) relative to those of healthy comparison subjects (N=25). The age range of the patients and comparison subjects was 15 to 45 years of age. Thalamic volumes in the right and left hemispheres were segmented and analyzed, both separately and as total thalamic volume, by a rater blind to clinical data. The thalamus was further segmented into regions that roughly reflected individual thalamic nuclei. Analysis of covariance was used to control for intracranial volume.Results: Right, left, and total thalamic volumes of the patients with schizophrenia were significantly smaller than those of the comparison subjects. Significantly smaller volumes were found in the left central medial subdivision of the patients as well as a smaller volume in the right central medial subdivision that approached significance. These regions primarily comprised the dorsomedial nucleus, a thalamic nucleus thought to be an important component of aberrant circuitry in schizophrenia. Significant volume differences were also seen in the left anterior, right anterior, and right posterior medial subdivisions.Conclusions: These findings suggest significant thalamic volumetric differences between patients with newly diagnosed schizophrenia and healthy comparison subjects. Future analysis of individual thalamic nuclei may reveal important, specific relationships between thalamic abnormalities and schizophrenia.