Schizophrenia Research
Volume 58, Issue 1 , Pages 75-81, 1 November 2002

Evidence for a decrease in basilar dendrites of pyramidal cells in schizophrenic medial prefrontal cortex

  • Kevin Broadbelt

      Affiliations

    • Department of Biological Sciences, Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard, Bronx, New York, NY 10468, USA
    • ,
  • William Byne

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
    • ,
  • Liesl B Jones

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +1-718-960-8091; fax: +1-718-960-8236
    • Department of Biological Sciences, Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard, Bronx, New York, NY 10468, USA

Received 28 August 2001; received in revised form 17 January 2002; accepted 22 January 2002.

Abstract 

A variety of lines of converging evidence implicates the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in schizophrenia. Previous neuroanatomical studies have shown schizophrenia-associated changes in neuron density, soma size and spine number. We recently demonstrated a schizophrenia-associated decrease in microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) immunostaining in laminae III and V of medial prefrontal area 32 and interpreted that finding as suggestive of a loss of dendritic material. We now present data from medial prefrontal area 32 of 11 schizophrenics and 11 comparison subjects. In Golgi-stained material, we describe a significant decrease in the number of both primary (29%) and secondary (46%) basilar dendrites on pyramidal neurons in layer V. Similarly, in layer III there was also a decrease in both primary (17%) and secondary (15%) basilar dendrites. These findings suggest a decrease in synaptic surface area which could lead to aberrant information processing.

Keywords:  Prefrontal cortex, Golgi, Schizophrenia, Dendrites, Morphology, Postmortem

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PII: S0920-9964(02)00201-3

Schizophrenia Research
Volume 58, Issue 1 , Pages 75-81, 1 November 2002

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