Journal
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
Volume 60, Issue 1, Pages 40-48Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.09.028
Keywords
schizotypal personality disorder; female; caudate nucleus; MRI; neuroleptic naive; psychopathology
Categories
Funding
- NIMH NIH HHS [R01 MH 063360, R01 MH050740-14, K05 MH070047-06, R01 MH050740, R01 MH052807, R01 MH 40799, R01 MH040799, R01 MH 052807, K05 MH070047, R01 MH063360, R01 MH 50740, K05 MH 070047] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background The caudate nucleus might contribute to the psychopathological and cognitive deficits observed in schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Here we focused on female patients, because this group is underrepresented in studies of SPD and schizophrenia, and we might learn more about the caudate and clinical and cognitive impairments that are unique to female Patients diagnosed with SPD. Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging scans, obtained on a 1.5-T magnet with 1.5-mm contiguous slices, were used to measure the caudate in 32 neuroleptic-naive women with SPD and in 29 female normal comparison subjects. Subjects were group-matcbed for age, parental socioeconomic status, and intelligence quotient. Results: We found significantly reduced left and right caudate relative volume (8.3%, 7.7%) in female SPD subjects compared with normal comparison subjects. In female SPD subjects, we found significant correlations between smaller total caudate relative volume and worse performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting test (non-perseverative errors) and on the California Verbal Learning Test (verbal memory and learning), and significant correlations between smaller total caudate relative volume and both positive and negative symptoms on the Structured Interview for Schizotypy. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that, for female SPD subjects, smaller caudate volume is associated with poorer cognitive performance and more schizotypal symptomatology.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available