• Shinsuke Hidese, Miho Ota, Junko Matsuo, Ikki Ishida, Moeko Hiraishi, Toshiya Teraishi, Kotaro Hattori, and Hiroshi Kunugi.
• Department of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan.
• Psychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 2017 Dec 1; 71 (12): 826-835.

AimThe Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS) is a concise tool designed to evaluate cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. We examined the possible association between BACS scores and whole-brain structure, as observed using magnetic resonance imaging with a relatively large sample.MethodsThe study sample comprised 116 patients with schizophrenia (mean age, 39.3 ± 11.1 years; 66 men) and 118 healthy controls (HC; mean age, 40.0 ± 13.6 years; 58 men) who completed the Japanese version of the BACS (BACS-J). All participants were of Japanese ethnicity. The magnetic resonance imaging volume and diffusion tensor imaging data were processed with voxel-based morphometry and tract-based spatial statistics, respectively.ResultsThere were significant reductions in the regional gray matter volumes and white matter fractional anisotropy values in patients with schizophrenia compared to HC. For the gray matter areas, the working memory score had a significant positive correlation with the anterior cingulate and medial frontal cortices volumes in the patients. For the white matter areas, the motor speed score had a significant positive correlation with fractional anisotropy values in the corpus callosum, internal capsule, superior corona radiata, and superior longitudinal fasciculus in the patients. However, there was no significant correlation among either the gray or white matter areas in the HC.ConclusionOur results suggest that among the BACS-J measures, the working memory and motor speed scores are associated with several structural alterations in the brains of patients with schizophrenia.© 2017 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2017 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.

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