TY - JOUR
T1 - Fiber tractography reveals disruption of temporal lobe white matter tracts in schizophrenia
AU - Phillips, Owen R.
AU - Nuechterlein, Keith H.
AU - Clark, Kristi A.
AU - Hamilton, Liberty S.
AU - Asarnow, Robert F.
AU - Hageman, Nathan S.
AU - Toga, Arthur W.
AU - Narr, Katherine L.
PY - 2009/1
Y1 - 2009/1
N2 - Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have demonstrated abnormal anisotropic diffusion in schizophrenia. However, examining data with low spatial resolution and/or a low number of gradient directions and limitations associated with analysis approaches sensitive to registration confounds may have contributed to mixed findings concerning the regional specificity and direction of results. This study examined three major white matter tracts connecting lateral and medial temporal lobe regions with neocortical association regions widely implicated in systems-level functional and structural disturbances in schizophrenia. Using DTIstudio, a previously validated regions of interest tractography method was applied to 30 direction diffusion weighted imaging data collected from demographically similar schizophrenia (n = 23) and healthy control subjects (n = 22). The diffusion tensor was computed at each voxel after intra-subject registration of diffusion-weighted images. Three-dimensional tract reconstruction was performed using the Fiber Assignment by Continuous Tracking (FACT) algorithm. Tractography results showed reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) of the arcuate fasciculi (AF) and inferior longitudinal fasciculi (ILF) in patients compared to controls. FA changes within the right ILF were negatively correlated with measures of thinking disorder. Reduced volume of the left AF was also observed in patients. These results, which avoid registration issues associated with voxel-based analyses of DTI data, support that fiber pathways connecting lateral and medial temporal lobe regions with neocortical regions are compromised in schizophrenia. Disruptions of connectivity within these pathways may potentially contribute to the disturbances of memory, language, and social cognitive processing that characterize the disorder.
AB - Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have demonstrated abnormal anisotropic diffusion in schizophrenia. However, examining data with low spatial resolution and/or a low number of gradient directions and limitations associated with analysis approaches sensitive to registration confounds may have contributed to mixed findings concerning the regional specificity and direction of results. This study examined three major white matter tracts connecting lateral and medial temporal lobe regions with neocortical association regions widely implicated in systems-level functional and structural disturbances in schizophrenia. Using DTIstudio, a previously validated regions of interest tractography method was applied to 30 direction diffusion weighted imaging data collected from demographically similar schizophrenia (n = 23) and healthy control subjects (n = 22). The diffusion tensor was computed at each voxel after intra-subject registration of diffusion-weighted images. Three-dimensional tract reconstruction was performed using the Fiber Assignment by Continuous Tracking (FACT) algorithm. Tractography results showed reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) of the arcuate fasciculi (AF) and inferior longitudinal fasciculi (ILF) in patients compared to controls. FA changes within the right ILF were negatively correlated with measures of thinking disorder. Reduced volume of the left AF was also observed in patients. These results, which avoid registration issues associated with voxel-based analyses of DTI data, support that fiber pathways connecting lateral and medial temporal lobe regions with neocortical regions are compromised in schizophrenia. Disruptions of connectivity within these pathways may potentially contribute to the disturbances of memory, language, and social cognitive processing that characterize the disorder.
KW - Arcuate fasciculus
KW - Diffusion tensor imaging
KW - Fractional anisotropy
KW - Inferior longitudinal fasciculus
KW - Uncinate fasciculus
KW - White matter
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=58149112245&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1016/j.schres.2008.10.019
DO - 10.1016/j.schres.2008.10.019
M3 - Article
C2 - 19028423
AN - SCOPUS:58149112245
VL - 107
SP - 30
EP - 38
JO - Schizophrenia Research
JF - Schizophrenia Research
SN - 0920-9964
IS - 1
ER -