Table 3.
Forniceal macro- and micro-structure alterations in schizophrenia and psychiatric disorders.
| Authors | Subjects [Mean age ± SD, range, (Male/Female)] | Image Acquisition | Image Analysis | Fornix-related Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chance et al., 1999 | 29 SCZ [70 ± 13.8 years, 16M, 13F] | Post mortem brain | Palmgren's silver stain for nerve fibers | Fiber density: men < women |
| 33 HC [69.45 ± 12.7 years, 19M, 14F] | Parrafin wax | Fiber density in men: SCZ > HC in the left fornix only | ||
| 5 μm section | No group difference in the numbers of fibers | |||
| Brisch et al., 2008 | 19 SCZ [51.37 ± 7.85 years, 11M, 8F] | Post mortem brain | Nissl and myelin-stained | No differences in volume and mean cross-sectional areas |
| 9 bDep [51.78 ± 11.90 years, 6M, 3F] | 20 μm section | |||
| 7 uDep [46.71 ± 14.31 years, 2M, 5F] | ||||
| 14 HC [53.64 ± 9.61 years, 8M, 4F] | ||||
| Davies et al., 2001 | 17 SCZ [16.9 ± 0.4 (14.83–20.5) years, 11M, 6F] | 1.5 T | ROI (body) | Area: SCZ > HC (+39.69%) |
| 9 PsyC [16.25 ± 0.5 (12.7–17.8) years, 6M, 38F] | MRI | Area: SCZ > PsyC (+26.23%) | ||
| 8 HC [16.9 ± 0.58 (14–18.3) years, 4M, 4F] | 1.5 mm slice | Area: HC = PsyC | ||
| Zahajszky et al., 2001 | 15 SCZ [37.6 ± 9.3 (20–54) years] | 1.5 T | ROI (body and crus) | No difference in volume between groups. |
| 15 matched HC [37.9 ± 8.8 (23–54) years] | MRI | No association between volume and illness or between volume and cognitive/clinical measures. | ||
| Only men | 6 directions | |||
| 3 mm slice | ||||
| Abdul-Rahman et al., 2011 | 33 SCZ [39.4 ± 8.82 years, 24M, 7F] | 3 T | ROI | FA: SCZ < HC |
| 31 HC [35.4 ± 8.82 years, 25M, 8F] | 15 directions | Tractography | RD: SCZ > HC, no difference in AxD | |
| 3 mm slice | Specific loci of FA reduction within the fornix | |||
| in SCZ, ↓FA α ↑psychopathology | ||||
| Davenport et al., 2010 | 15 SCZ_onset [10–20 years, 8M, 7F] | 3 T | VBA | In left posterior fornix: |
| 14 ADHD [10–20 years, 12M, 2F] | 12 directions | FA: SCZ_onset < HC and ADHD < HC | ||
| 26 HC [10–20 years, 16M, 12F] | 2 mm slice | |||
| Fitzsimmons et al., 2009 | 36 SCZ [39.89 ± 9.06 years] | 1.5 T | Tractography | FA: SCZ < HC |
| 36 HC [39.59 ± 9.32 years] | 6 directions | ROI | In HC: ↑FA α ↑ visual and verbal memory tasks, recall and recognition. | |
| Only men | 4 mm slice | In SCZ: no correlations | ||
| Fitzsimmons et al., 2014 | 21 FES [21.71 ± 4.86 years, 16M, 5F] | 3 T | Tractography | FA: FES < HC |
| 22 HC [21.23 ± 3.29 years, 13M, 9F) | 51 directions | ROI | MD, RD and AxD: FES > HC | |
| Slice not reported | MD (left) < MD (right) in FES only | |||
| No correlation between DTI metrics and clinical characteristics | ||||
| Kendi et al., 2008 | 15 SCZ [14.5 ± 2.6 (8–19 years), 7M, 8F)] | 3 T | ROI | Volume: SCZ < HC (-11%) |
| 15HC [15.1 ± 2.5 (8–19 years), (8M, 7F] | 12 directions | No changes in FA | ||
| 2 mm | ||||
| Kuroki et al., 2006 | 24SCZ [40.3 ± 8.5 years (24–52 years)] | 1.5 T | ROI | FA: SCZ < HC (-7.5%) |
| 31HC [40.6 ± 8.7 years (23–54 years)] | 6 directions | MD: SCZ > HC (+6.7%) | ||
| Only men | 4 mm slice | Volume: SCZ < HC (-15.5%) | ||
| ↓FA α ↑medication dosage | ||||
| ↓cross-sectional area α ↓global attention scores | ||||
| ↓cross-sectional area α ↓hippocampal volume | ||||
| Lee et al., 2013 | 17 FES [21.5 ± 4.8 (18–30 years), 13M, 4F] | 3 T | TBSS | FA: FES < HC |
| 17 HC [23.1 ± 3.5 (18–30 years), 12M, 5F] | 51 directions | ROI | In the right fornix only, ↓FA α ↓reading scores | |
| 1.7 mm | No effect of medication on FA in FES group | |||
| Luck et al., 2010 | 32 FES [23.6 ± 0.7 years, 22M, 10F)] | 1.5 T | Tractography | FA: FES < HC |
| 25 HC [24.5 ± 0.8 years, (13M, 12F] | 60 directions | |||
| 4.4 mm slice | ||||
| Nestor et al., 2007 | 21 SCZ [39.79 ± 9.16 (18–55 years)] | 1.5 T | ROI | In SCZ: ↓FA α ↓scores for memory(↓DPT) |
| 24 HC [40.64 ± 9.38 (18–55 years)] | 6 directions | In HC: ↑FA α ↑scores for memory (↑DPT, verbal memory and recall) | ||
| Only men | 4 mm slice | |||
| Takei et al., 2008 | 31SCZ [33.8 ± 9.0 (22–55 years), 12M, 19F)] | 1.5 T | Tractography | FA: SCZ < HC |
| 65 HC [34.7 ± 9.7 (21–54 years), 24M, 41F] | 6 directions | ROI | MD: SCZ > HC | |
| Slice not reported | No lateralization. | |||
| In SCZ only: ↑MD_left α ↓verbal learning scores and ↑MD_right α ↓category fluency test performance | ||||
| Smith et al., 2006 | 33 SCZ, 15 MS, Not reported | 1.5 T | TBSS | FA: SCZ < HC |
| 10 directions | ||||
| 2.5 mm | ||||
| Maier-Hein et al., 2014 | 20 BPD [16.7 ± 1.6 (14–18 years)] | 3 T | TBSS | FA: BPD < HC = CC |
| 20 mixed psychosis diagnoses (CC) [16.0 ± 1.3 (14–18 years)] | 12 directions | ROI | ||
| 20 HC [16.8 ± 1.2 (14–18 years)] | 2.5 mm slice | |||
| Only women |
α: correlate.
MRI, Magnetic Resonance Imaging; T, Tesla; TBSS, Tract-based spatial statistic; VBA, Voxel-based analysis; ROI, Region of Interest; FA, Fractional Anisotropy; MD, Mean Diffusivity, AxD, Axial Diffusivity; RD, Radial Diffusivity.
HC, Healthy controls; SCZ, schizophrenic patients; PsyC, psychiatric controls non–schizophrenics: ADHD, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; uDep, unipolar Depression, bDep, bipolar depression; BPD, bipolar disorder; FES, first episode schizophrenia.
DPT, Doors and People Test.