Altered microstructure integrity of the amygdala in schizophrenia: a bimodal MRI and DWI study

• Published in: Psychological medicine Vol. 41; no. 2; pp. 301 - 311
• Main Authors: Tomasino, B., Bellani, M., Perlini, C., Rambaldelli, G., Cerini, R., Isola, M., Balestrieri, M., Calì, S., Versace, A., Pozzi Mucelli, R., Gasparini, A., Tansella, M., Brambilla, P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.02.2011
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Amygdala - pathology; Amygdala - ultrastructure; Anatomy & physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Case-Control Studies; Contaminated water; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Emotion recognition; Emotions; Female; Humans; Information processing; Italy; Linear Models; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Matched-Pair Analysis; Medical imaging; Medical sciences; Microstructure; Morality; Neuropsychology; Organ Size; Pathophysiology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychoses; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - pathology; Suffering; Symptoms; Water; Italy; magnetic resonance imaging; morphometry; schizophrenia; brain; diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging; Apparent diffusion coefficient; Human; Volumetric analysis; Hemispheric specialization; Amygdala; Pathophysiology; Central nervous system; Schizophrenia; Basal ganglion; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Encephalon; Psychosis; Imaging; Medical imagery; Diffusion coefficient; Morphometry; Amygdaloid nucleus
• ISSN: 0033-2917; 1469-8978; 1469-8978
• DOI: 10.1017/S0033291710000875

The amygdala plays a central role in the fronto-limbic network involved in the processing of emotions. Structural and functional abnormalities of the amygdala have recently been found in schizophrenia, although there are still contradictory results about its reduced or preserved volumes. In order to address these contradictory findings and to further elucidate the possibly underlying pathophysiological process of the amygdala, we employed structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), exploring amygdalar volume and microstructural changes in 69 patients with schizophrenia and 72 matched healthy subjects, relating these indices to psychopathological measures. Measuring water diffusivity, the apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) for the right amygdala were found to be significantly greater in patients with schizophrenia compared with healthy controls, with a trend for abnormally reduced volumes. Also, significant correlations between mood symptoms and amygdalar volumes were found in schizophrenia. We therefore provide evidence that schizophrenia is associated with disrupted tissue organization of the right amygdala, despite partially preserved size, which may ultimately lead to abnormal emotional processing in schizophrenia. This result confirms the major role of the amygdala in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and is discussed with respect to amygdalar structural and functional abnormalities found in patients suffering from this illness.