Regional specificity of cerebrospinal fluid abnormalities in first episode schizophrenia

Narr, Katherine L.; Bilder, Robert M.; Woods, Roger P.; Thompson, Paul M.; Szeszko, Philip; Robinson, Delbert; Ballmaier, Martina; Messenger, Bradley; Wang, YungPing; Toga, Arthur W.

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2005.10.005

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 146, Issue 1 , Pages 21-33, 30 January 2006

Regional specificity of cerebrospinal fluid abnormalities in first episode schizophrenia

Katherine L. Narr
- Laboratory of NeuroImaging, Division of Brain Mapping, UCLA School of Medicine, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769, USA
Robert M. Bilder
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Roger P. Woods
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Paul M. Thompson
- Laboratory of NeuroImaging, Division of Brain Mapping, UCLA School of Medicine, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769, USA
Philip Szeszko
- Department of Psychiatry Research, The Zucker Hillside Hospital, North-Shore Long Island Jewish Health Systems, Glen Oaks, NY, USA
Delbert Robinson
- Department of Psychiatry Research, The Zucker Hillside Hospital, North-Shore Long Island Jewish Health Systems, Glen Oaks, NY, USA
Martina Ballmaier
- Laboratory of NeuroImaging, Division of Brain Mapping, UCLA School of Medicine, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769, USA
Bradley Messenger
- Laboratory of NeuroImaging, Division of Brain Mapping, UCLA School of Medicine, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769, USA
YungPing Wang
- Laboratory of NeuroImaging, Division of Brain Mapping, UCLA School of Medicine, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769, USA
Arthur W. Toga
- Laboratory of NeuroImaging, Division of Brain Mapping, UCLA School of Medicine, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769, USA
- Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Corresponding author. Laboratory of NeuroImaging, Department of Neurology, Division of Brain Mapping, UCLA School of Medicine, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769, USA. Tel.: +1 310 206 2101; fax: +1 310 206 5518.

Received 22 July 2005; received in revised form 5 October 2005; accepted 15 October 2005.

Abstract

The timing and regional specificity of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) enlargements have not been well described in schizophrenia. High-resolution magnetic resonance images and computational image analysis methods were used to localize cross-sectional changes in lateral ventricle and sulcal and subarachnoid CSF in first episode schizophrenia patients (51 males/21 females) and healthy subjects (37 males/41 females). Volumes were obtained for each lateral ventricle horn and regional differences identified by comparing the distances from the ventricular surfaces to the central core at anatomically matched locations. Extra-cortical CSF differences were compared by measuring the proportion of CSF voxels sampled from spatially homologous cortical surface points. Significant extra-cortical CSF enlargements were observed in first episode patients, where regional differences surrounded the temporal, anterior frontal and parietal cortices. Volume and ventricular surface analyses failed to show significant effects of diagnosis. However, interactions indicated dorsal superior horn expansions in female patients compared with same-sex controls. Since ventricular enlargements are widely reported in chronic patients, our observations at first episode suggest ventricular enlargement may progress after disease onset with early changes occurring around the dorsal superior horn. In contrast, sulcal and subarachnoid CSF increases may be manifest near or before the first episode but after brain development is complete, reflecting pronounced reductions in proximal brain tissue.

Keywords: MRI, Ventricles, Sulcal, Morphology, Temporal lobe, Cortex