A quantitative MR measure of the fornix in schizophrenia

Zahajszky, Janos; Dickey, Chandlee C.; McCarley, Robert W.; Fischer, Iris A.; Nestor, Paul; Kikinis, Ron; Shenton, Martha E.

« PreviousSchizophrenia Research
Volume 47, Issue 1 , Pages 87-97, 15 January 2001

A quantitative MR measure of the fornix in schizophrenia

Janos Zahajszky
- Mount Sinai Medical School, New York, NY, 10029USA
Chandlee C. Dickey
- Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, VAMC, 940 Belmont Street, Brockton, MA 02301, USA
Robert W. McCarley
- Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, VAMC, 940 Belmont Street, Brockton, MA 02301, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-508-583-4500 ext. 2479; fax: +1-508-586-0894
Iris A. Fischer
- Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, VAMC, 940 Belmont Street, Brockton, MA 02301, USA
Paul Nestor
- Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, VAMC, 940 Belmont Street, Brockton, MA 02301, USA
Ron Kikinis
- Surgical Planning Laboratory, MRI Division, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Martha E. Shenton
- Clinical Neuroscience Division, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, VAMC, 940 Belmont Street, Brockton, MA 02301, USA
- Surgical Planning Laboratory, MRI Division, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Corresponding author

Received 12 December 1999; accepted 13 March 2000.

Abstract

Some cognitive disturbances accompanying schizophrenia may be due to abnormalities in the thalamus and components of the limbic system. The fornix is an important white-matter relay pathway connecting these structures and is likely to be affected in schizophrenia as well.

Magnetic resonance images of the fornix were analyzed in 15 schizophrenic patients and 15 matched comparison group subjects. Fornix volume was compared between the two groups and was also correlated with the volumes of other neuroanatomical structures, as well as with illness presentation, clinical status, and cognitive/psychological measures.

There was no significant difference in fornix volume between the two groups. Of note, fornix volume correlated significantly with the volumes of the hippocampus, parahippocampus, and the superior temporal gyrus in the schizophrenic subjects, but not in the controls. Moreover, the correlation between fornix and parahippocampal gyrus volumes differed significantly between the two groups. No association was found between fornix volume and illness presentation or between fornix and cognitive/clinical measures.

Results suggest that there are no marked changes in fornix volume in schizophrenia by MRI. The fornix, however, may be part of a network of structures affected in schizophrenia, as indicated by correlated volumetric changes.

Keywords: Fornix, Hippocampus, Image processing, Magnetic resonance imaging, MR, Schizophrenia, Volumetric analysis