TY - JOUR
T1 - Suicidal attempts and increased right amygdala volume in schizophrenia
AU - Spoletini, Ilaria
AU - Piras, Fabrizio
AU - Fagioli, Sabrina
AU - Rubino, Ivo Alex
AU - Martinotti, Giovanni
AU - Siracusano, Alberto
AU - Caltagirone, Carlo
AU - Spalletta, Gianfranco
PY - 2011/1
Y1 - 2011/1
N2 - Suicide is a major cause of death in schizophrenia. Neurobiological studies suggest that suicidality is associated with abnormal brain structure and connectivity in fronto-temporo-limbic regions. However, it is still unclear whether suicidality in schizophrenia is related to volumetric abnormalities in subcortical structures that play a key role in emotion regulation, aggression and impulse control. Therefore, we aimed to examine whether the volume of selected subcortical regions is associated with previous suicidal attempts and self-aggression in schizophrenia. For this cross-sectional study, we recruited 50 outpatients with schizophrenia and 50 healthy controls (HC) matched for age and gender. Fourteen patients had a history of one or more suicide attempts. Different forms of aggression were assessed using the Modified Overt Aggression Scale. All participants underwent structural MR imaging at 3 Tesla. Physical volumetric measures were calculated for the lateral ventricles, thalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, caudate, putamen, pallidum and accumbens using an automatic segmentation method on T1-weighted high-resolution (voxel size 1×1×1mm3) images. Multivariate and follow-up univariate ANOVAs revealed a selective increase in volume in the right amygdala of patients with a history of suicidality compared both to patients without such a history and HC. Moreover, in the entire patient group increased right amygdala volume was related to increased self-aggression. Our findings suggest that right amygdala hypertrophy may be a risk factor for suicide attempts in patients with schizophrenia and this could be relevant for suicide prevention.
AB - Suicide is a major cause of death in schizophrenia. Neurobiological studies suggest that suicidality is associated with abnormal brain structure and connectivity in fronto-temporo-limbic regions. However, it is still unclear whether suicidality in schizophrenia is related to volumetric abnormalities in subcortical structures that play a key role in emotion regulation, aggression and impulse control. Therefore, we aimed to examine whether the volume of selected subcortical regions is associated with previous suicidal attempts and self-aggression in schizophrenia. For this cross-sectional study, we recruited 50 outpatients with schizophrenia and 50 healthy controls (HC) matched for age and gender. Fourteen patients had a history of one or more suicide attempts. Different forms of aggression were assessed using the Modified Overt Aggression Scale. All participants underwent structural MR imaging at 3 Tesla. Physical volumetric measures were calculated for the lateral ventricles, thalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, caudate, putamen, pallidum and accumbens using an automatic segmentation method on T1-weighted high-resolution (voxel size 1×1×1mm3) images. Multivariate and follow-up univariate ANOVAs revealed a selective increase in volume in the right amygdala of patients with a history of suicidality compared both to patients without such a history and HC. Moreover, in the entire patient group increased right amygdala volume was related to increased self-aggression. Our findings suggest that right amygdala hypertrophy may be a risk factor for suicide attempts in patients with schizophrenia and this could be relevant for suicide prevention.
KW - Amygdala
KW - Schizophrenia
KW - Self-aggression
KW - Subcortical structures
KW - Suicide
KW - Volumetry
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U2 - 10.1016/j.schres.2010.08.023
DO - 10.1016/j.schres.2010.08.023
M3 - Article
C2 - 20869847
AN - SCOPUS:78650263622
VL - 125
SP - 30
EP - 40
JO - Schizophrenia Research
JF - Schizophrenia Research
SN - 0920-9964
IS - 1
ER -