STEREOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF BRAIN MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGES OF SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5566/ias.v32.p145-153Keywords:
brain, Cavalieri principle, magnetic resonance images, schizophrenia, stereology, volume, volume fractionAbstract
Advances in neuroimaging have enabled studies of specific neuroanatomical abnormalities with relevance to schizophrenia. This study quantified structural alterations on brain magnetic resonance (MR) images of patients with schizophrenia. MR brain imaging was done on 88 control and 57 schizophrenic subjects and Dicom images were analyzed with ImageJ software. The brain volume was estimated with the planimetric stereological technique. The volume fraction of brain structures was also estimated. The results showed that, the mean volume of right, left, and total hemispheres in controls were 551, 550, and 1101 cm³, respectively. The mean volumes of right, left, and total hemispheres in schizophrenics were 513, 512, and 1026 cm³, respectively. The schizophrenics’ brains were smaller than the controls (p < 0.05). The mean volume of total white matter of controls (516 cm³) was bigger than the schizophrenics’ volume (451 cm³), (p < 0.05). The volume fraction of total white matter was also lower in schizophrenics (p < 0.05). Volume fraction of the lateral ventricles was higher in schizophrenics (p < 0.05). According to the findings, the volumes of schizophrenics’ brain were smaller than the controls and the volume fractional changes in schizophrenics showed sex dependent differences. We conclude that stereological analysis of MR brain images is useful for quantifying schizophrenia related structural changes.References
Andreasen NC, Flashman L, Flaum, M, Arndt S, Swayze V (1994). Regional brain abnormalities in schizophrenia measured with magnetic resonance imaging. JAMA 272(22): 1763-1769.
Bleuler M, Bleuler R (1986). Dementia praecox oder die Gruppe der Schizophrenien: Eugen Bleuler. Br J Psychiatry 149: 661-662.
Braitenberg V (2001). Brain size and number of neurons: an exercise in synthetic neuroanatomy. J Comput Neurosci 10(1): 71-77.
Chap TE (2003). Comparison of population means. Introductory Biostatistics (1). John Wiley and Sons. Canada: 246-281.
Crow TJ (1990). Temporal lobe asymmetries as the key to the etiology of schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 16(3): 433-443.
DeLisi LE, Stritzke P, Riordan H, Holan V, Boccio A, Kushner M (1992). The timing of brain morphological changes in schizophrenia and their relationship to clinical outcome. Biol Psychiatry 31(3): 241-254.
Doherty CP, Fitzsimons M, Holohan T, Mohamed HB, Farrell M, Meredith GE (2000). Accuracy and validity of stereology as a quantitative method for assessment of human temporal lobe volumes acquired by magnetic resonance imaging. Magn Reson Imaging, 18(8): 1017-1025.
Ebdrup BH, Skimminge A, Rasmussen H, Aggernaes B, Oranje B, Lublin H (2011). Progressive striatal and hippocampal volume loss in initially antipsychotic-naive, first-episode schizophrenia patients treated with quetiapine: relationship to dose and symptoms. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 14(1): 69-82.
Fornito A, Yucel M, Dean B, Wood SJ, Pantelis C (2009). Anatomical abnormalities of the anterior cingulate cortex in schizophrenia: bridging the gap between neuroimaging and neuropathology. Schizophr Bull 35(5): 973-993.
Frangou S, Sharma T, Sigmudsson T, Barta P, Pearlson G, Murray RM (1997). The Maudsley Family Study. 4. Normal planum temporale asymmetry in familial schizophrenia. A volumetric MRI study. Br J Psychiatry 170: 328-333.
Garcia-Finana M, Cruz-Orive LM, Mackay CE, Pakkenberg B, Roberts N (2003). Comparison of MR imaging against physical sectioning to estimate the volume of human cerebral compartments. Neuroimage 18(2): 505-516.
Geschwind N, Galaburda AM (1985). Cerebral lateralization. Biological mechanisms, associations, and pathology: I. A hypothesis and a program for research. Arch Neurol 42(5): 428-459.
Glantz LA, Lewis DA (2001). Dendritic spine density in schizophrenia and depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 58(2): 203.
Gong QY, Roberts N, Garden AS, Whitehouse GH (1998). Fetal and fetal brain volume estimation in the third trimester of human pregnancy using gradient echo MR imaging. Magn Reson Imaging 16(3): 235-240.
Gur RE, Cowell P, Turetsky BI, Gallacher F, Cannon T, Bilker W (1998). A follow-up magnetic resonance imaging study of schizophrenia. Relationship of neuroanatomical changes to clinical and neurobehavioral measures. Arch Gen Psychiatry 55(2): 145-152.
Gur RE, Mozley PD, Shtasel DL, Cannon TD, Gallacher F, Turetsky B (1994). Clinical subtypes of schizophrenia: differences in brain and CSF volume. Am J Psychiatry 151(3): 343-350.
Gur RE, Turetsky BI, Bilker WB, Gur RC (1999). Reduced gray matter volume in schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 56(10): 905-911.
Harrison PJ (1999). The neuropathology of schizophrenia. A critical review of the data and their interpretation. Brain 122 ( 4): 593-624.
Highley JR, DeLisi LE, Roberts N, Webb JA, Relja M, Razi K (2003). Sex-dependent effects of schizophrenia: an MRI study of gyral folding, and cortical and white matter volume. Psychiatry Res 124(1): 11-23.
Honea R, Crow TJ, Passingham D, Mackay CE (2005). Regional deficits in brain volume in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies. Am J Psychiatry 162(12): 2233-2245.
Kanaan RA, Kim JS, Kaufmann WE, Pearlson GD, Barker GJ, McGuire PK (2005). Diffusion tensor imaging in schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 58(12): 921-929.
Kasai K, Iwanami A, Yamasue H, Kuroki N, Nakagome K, Fukuda M (2002). Neuroanatomy and neurophysiology in schizophrenia. Neurosci Res 43(2): 93-110.
Kubicki M, McCarley R, Westin CF, Park HJ, Maier S, Kikinis R (2007). A review of diffusion tensor imaging studies in schizophrenia. J Psychiatr Res 41(1-2): 15-30.
Kubicki M, McCarley RW, Shenton ME (2005). Evidence for white matter abnormalities in schizophrenia. Curr Opin Psychiatry 18(2): 121-134.
Lawrie SM, Abukmeil SS (1998). Brain abnormality in schizophrenia. A systematic and quantitative review of volumetric magnetic resonance imaging studies. Br J Psychiatry 172: 110-120.
Light K, Roberts N, Whitehouse GH, Edwards RH (1995). Unbiased and efficient estimation of bladder volume with MR imaging. J Magn Reson Imaging 5(1): 33-41.
Mathalon DH, Rapoport JL, Davis KL, Krystal JH (2003). Neurotoxicity, neuroplasticity, and magnetic resonance imaging morphometry. Arch Gen Psychiatry 60(8): 848-849.
McCarley RW, Wible CG, Frumin M, Hirayasu Y, Levitt JJ, Fischer IA (1999). MRI anatomy of schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 45(9): 1099-1119.
Paillere-Martinot M, Caclin A, Artiges E, Poline JB, Joliot M, Mallet L (2001). Cerebral gray and white matter reductions and clinical correlates in patients with early onset schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 50(1-2): 19-26.
Paus T (2005). Mapping brain maturation and cognitive development during adolescence. Trends Cogn Sci 9(2): 60-68.
Pearlson GD, Marsh L (1999). Structural brain imaging in schizophrenia: a selective review. Biol Psychiatry 46(5): 627-649.
Powchik P, Davidson M, Haroutunian V, Gabriel SM, Purohit DP, Perl DP (1998). Postmortem studies in schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 24(3): 325-341.
Price G, Cercignani M, Bagary MS, Barnes TR, Barker GJ, Joyce EM (2006). A volumetric MRI and magnetization transfer imaging follow-up study of patients with first-episode schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 87(1-3): 100-108.
Rajarethinam RP, DeQuardo JR, Nalepa R, Tandon R (2000). Superior temporal gyrus in schizophrenia: a volumetric magnetic resonance imaging study. Schizophr Res 41(2): 303-312.
Reveley MA, Reveley AM, Baldy R (1987). Left cerebral hemisphere hypodensity in discordant schizophrenic twins. A controlled study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 44(7): 625-632.
Roberts N, Cruz-Orive LM, Reid NM, Brodie DA, Bourne M, Edwards RH (1993). Unbiased estimation of human body composition by the Cavalieri method using magnetic resonance imaging. J Microsc 171(3): 239-253.
Roberts N, Garden AS, Cruz-Orive LM, Whitehouse GH, Edwards RH (1994). Estimation of fetal volume by magnetic resonance imaging and stereology. Br J Radiol 67(803): 1067-1077.
Rossi A, Galderisi S, Di Michele V, Stratta P, Ceccoli S, Maj M (1990). Dementia in schizophrenia. Magnetic resonance and clinical correlates. J Nerv Ment Dis 178(8): 521-524.
Sanfilipo M, Lafargue T, Arena L, Rusinek H, Kushner K, Lautin A (2000). Fine volumetric analysis of the cerebral ventricular system in schizophrenia: further evidence for multifocal mild to moderate enlargement. Schizophr Bull 26(1): 201-216.
Selemon LD, Goldman-Rakic PS. (1999). The reduced neuropil hypothesis: a circuit based model of schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 45(1): 17-25.
Shenton ME, Dickey CC, Frumin M, McCarley RW (2001). A review of MRI findings in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 49(1-2): 1-52.
Smith RC, Calderon M, Ravichandran GK, Largen J, Vroulis G, Shvartsburd A (1984). Nuclear magnetic resonance in schizophrenia: a preliminary study. Psychiatry Res 12(2): 137-147.
Sowell, ER; Levitt, J; Thompson, PM; Holmes, CJ; Blanton, RE; Kornsand, DS (2000). Brain abnormalities in early-onset schizophrenia spectrum disorder observed with statistical parametric mapping of structural magnetic resonance images. Am J Psychiatry 157(9): 1475-1484.
Sowell ER, Peterson BS, Thompson PM, Welcome SE, Henkenius AL (2003). Mapping cortical change across the human life span. Nat Neurosci 6(3): 309-315.
Spitz H, Sadock BJ (1973). Small interactional groups in the psychiatric training of graduate nursing students. J Nurs Educ 12(2): 6-13.
Staal WG, Hulshoff Pol HE, Schnack H, Van der Schot AC, Kahn RS (1998). Partial volume decrease of the thalamus in relatives of patients with schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry 155(12): 1784-1786.
Thompson PM, Vidal C, Giedd JN, Gochman P, Blumenthal J, Nicolson R (2001). Mapping adolescent brain change reveals dynamic wave of accelerated gray matter loss in very early-onset schizophrenia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98(20): 11650-11655.
Todtenkopf MS, Vincent SL, Benes FM (2005). A cross-study meta-analysis and three-dimensional comparison of cell counting in the anterior cingulate cortex of schizophrenic and bipolar brain. Schizophr Res 73(1): 79-89.
Vidal CN, Rapoport JL, Hayashi KM, Geaga JA, Sui Y, McLemore LE (2006). Dynamically spreading frontal and cingulate deficits mapped in adolescents with schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 63(1): 25-34.
Walterfang M, Wood SJ, Velakoulis D, Pantelis C (2006). Neuropathological, neurogenetic and neuroimaging evidence for white matter pathology in schizophrenia. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 30(7): 918-948.
Ward KE, Friedman L, Wise A, Schulz SC (1996). Meta-analysis of brain and cranial size in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 22(3): 197-213.
Weinberger DR, McClure RK (2002). Neurotoxicity, neuroplasticity, and magnetic resonance imaging morphometry: what is happening in the schizophrenic brain? Arch Gen Psychiatry 59(6): 553-558.
Whitworth AB, Honeder M, Kremser C, Kemmler G, Felber S, Hausmann A (1998). Hippocampal volume reduction in male schizophrenic patients. Schizophr Res 31(2-3): 73-81.
Wible CG, Shenton ME, Hokama, H, Kikinis R, Jolesz FA, Metcalf D (1995). Prefrontal cortex and schizophrenia. A quantitative magnetic resonance imaging study. Arch Gen Psychiatry 52(4): 279-288.
Wright IC, Rabe-Hesketh S, Woodruff PW, David AS, Murray RM, Bullmore ET (2000). Meta-analysis of regional brain volumes in schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry 157(1): 16-25.
