ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the association of duration of untreated psychosis(DUP) and the gray matter volumes in patients with first-episode schizophrenia.Methods 39 patients with first-episode schizophrenia were divided into two groups according to DUP:long-DUP group and short-DUP group.All the subjects underwent T1 weighted magnetic resonance imaging.After transformed with MRIcro software,all the images underwent standardization,segmentation,modulation and smoothing with Statistical Parametric Mapping 5 (SPM5) software.The gray matter volumes of the two groups underwent two-sample t-test with a Voxel-based morphometry (VBM)using SPM5 software.Results Long-DUP schizophrenic patients presented significantly reduced GM volume in the left thalamus(MNI:-6,-16,2;cluster=141 voxels)and the left temporal lobe(MNI:-46,-58,-6;cluster=69 Voxels),compared with short-DUP schizophrenic patients.Conclusion Delayed DUP may increase the loss of gray matter in schizophrenia.
ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the changes of the white matter integrity in paranoid schizophrenia.Methods Diffusion weighted images of the 19 patients' with paranoid schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls'whole brains were acquired with a single-shot echo planar imaging ( EPI ) sequence aligned to the straight axial plane. After preprocessed with DTI-studio and SPM5 software, the fractional anisotropy (FA) images of the two groups were compared by two-sample t-test with SPM5 software. Results Subjects of paranoid schizophrenia demonstrated reduced FA in the right thalamus white matter(x = 18 ,y = - 10,z = 14,cluster = 194, t= -3.27, P=0.000 ) and demonstrated increased FA in the right insula white matter ( x = 34, y = -10, z = 12, cluster = 113, t =4.50, P = 0.004 ). Conclusion Schizophrenia has conflicting changes of white matter integrity in some brain areas.