Tract-specific analysis of the superior occipitofrontal fasciculus in schizophrenia

Kunimatsu, Natsuko; Aoki, Shigeki; Kunimatsu, Akira; Yoshida, Mariko; Abe, Osamu; Yamada, Haruyasu; Masutani, Yoshitaka; Kasai, Kiyoto; Yamasue, Hidenori; Ohtsu, Hiroshi; Ohtomo, Kuni

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2008.03.004

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 164, Issue 3 , Pages 198-205, 30 December 2008

Tract-specific analysis of the superior occipitofrontal fasciculus in schizophrenia☆

Natsuko Kunimatsu
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-8655, Tokyo, Japan
- Corresponding author. Department of Radiology, University of Tokyo Hospital, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan. Tel.: +81 3 5800 8666; fax: +81 3 5800 8935.
Shigeki Aoki
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-8655, Tokyo, Japan
Akira Kunimatsu
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
Mariko Yoshida
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-8655, Tokyo, Japan
- School of Medicine, University of Kanazawa, Kanazawa, Japan
Osamu Abe
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-8655, Tokyo, Japan
Haruyasu Yamada
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-8655, Tokyo, Japan
Yoshitaka Masutani
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-8655, Tokyo, Japan
Kiyoto Kasai
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Hidenori Yamasue
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Hiroshi Ohtsu
- Department of Clinical Bioinformatics, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Kuni Ohtomo
- Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-8655, Tokyo, Japan

Received 14 June 2007; received in revised form 8 January 2008; accepted 7 March 2008.

Abstract

Diffusion tensor imaging has been highlighted as a non-invasive tool to explore neural connectivity in vivo. Several studies have suggested disorganization of the neural network (circuitry) including the thalamo-prefrontal connection in schizophrenia. Recent research using post-mortem brains showed that the superior occipitofrontal fasciculus (SOFF) fibers extended to the thalamus. We postulated that the SOFF has some relationship with the anatomical structural components of the thalamo-prefrontal circuitry. We quantitatively assessed the diffusion abnormalities of the SOFF using diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) in schizophrenia. Nineteen male patients with schizophrenia and 20 age-matched normal controls were studied. DTT of the SOFF (DTT-SOFF) was visualized using free software (dTV II/VOLUME-ONE), and we performed tract-specific measurement of the fractional anisotropy (FA), then calculated the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the DTT-SOFF. Tractography and tract-specific analysis of the SOFF were successfully performed in all subjects. All tracts appeared to be connecting the prefrontal area to the thalamus. The mean FA value of patients with schizophrenia [0.376 (S.D. 0.030)] was significantly lower than that of controls [0.432 (S.D. 0.032)], and the ADC value of patients with schizophrenia [0.771 (×10⁻³ mm²/s) (S.D. 0.041)] was significantly higher than that of controls [0.726 (×10⁻³ mm²/s) (S.D. 0.027)]. Our results suggest that the so-called SOFF may be a structural component connecting the prefrontal area to the thalamus and that it is deteriorated in schizophrenia.