Abstract
Structural abnormalities in temporal lobe, including the superior temporal gyrus (STG) and planum temporale (PT), have been reported in schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BPD) patients. While most MRI studies have suggested gray matter volume and surface area reduction in temporal lobe regions, few have explored changes in laminar thickness in PT and STG in SCZ and BPD. ROI subvolumes of the STG from 94 subjects were used to yield gray matter volume, gray/white surface area and laminar thickness for STG and PT cortical regions. Morphometric analysis suggests that there may be gender and laterality effects on the size and shape of the PT in BPD (n=36) and SCZ (n=31) with reduced laterality in PT in subjects with SCZ but not in BPD. In addition, PT surface area was seen to be larger in males, and asymmetry in PT surface area was larger in BPD. Subjects with SCZ had reduced thickness and smaller asymmetry in PT volume. Thus, the PT probably plays a more sensitive role than the STG in structural abnormalities seen in SCZ.
Highlights
Recent studies suggest that thicknesses of cortical structures seen in MRI scans may be different in patients with neurodevelopmental diseases, such as schizophrenia (SCZ) and psychotic bipolar disorder (BPD), and that these changes may be related to genetic and environmental factors [1,2,3,4,5,6]
One method of quantifying cortical thickness is labeled cortical distance mapping (LCDM), which analyzes a subvolume encompassing the region of interest (ROI)
All three tests are sensitive to differences in the distribution of LCDM distances but provide different aspects of the information conveyed by LCDM distances with certain limitations
Summary
Recent studies suggest that thicknesses of cortical structures seen in MRI scans may be different in patients with neurodevelopmental diseases, such as schizophrenia (SCZ) and psychotic bipolar disorder (BPD), and that these changes may be related to genetic and environmental factors [1,2,3,4,5,6]. The PT is a multisensory region on the ventral surface of the STG and plays an important role in language and speech processing [7] These functions may be disrupted by auditory hallucinations resulting in the classic psychotic symptoms of SCZ [8], which differ from those seen in BPD [9]. The boundary between white matter (WM) and CSF is often indistinct, but this challenge can be partially overcome by viewing the ROI as a laminar structure composed of gray matter (GM) voxels and a local surface coordinate system based on an anatomically defined GM/WM cortical surface [10] This approach is in line with the classic formulation of differential geometry, in which local coordinate systems are examined. The LCDM data are represented by a set of distances from labeled GM voxels with respect to the nearest point on the GM/WM surface
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