Psychiatry research
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Psychiatry research · Nov 2007
White matter abnormalities associated with auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia: a combined study of voxel-based analyses of diffusion tensor imaging and structural magnetic resonance imaging.
White matter (WM) abnormalities in schizophrenia may offer important clues to a better understanding of the disconnectivity associated with the disorder. The aim of this study was to elucidate a WM basis of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia through the simultaneous investigation of WM tract integrity and WM density. Diffusion tensor images (DTIs) and structural T1 magnetic resonance images (MRIs) were taken from 15 hallucinating schizophrenic patients, 15 non-hallucinating schizophrenic patients and 22 normal controls. ⋯ The mean FA value of the left frontal part of the SLF was positively correlated with the severity score of auditory hallucinations in the hallucinating patient group. Our findings show that WM changes were mainly observed in the frontal and temporal areas, suggesting that disconnectivity in the left fronto-temporal area may contribute to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. In addition, pathologic WM changes in this region may be an important step in the development of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia.