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Preliminary study of frontal lobe 1 H MR spectroscopy in childhood‐onset schizophrenia
Author(s) -
Thomas M. Albert,
Ke Yong,
Levitt Jennifer,
Caplan Rochelle,
Curran John,
Asarnow Robert,
McCracken James
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.1880080413
Subject(s) - frontal lobe , metabolite , occipital lobe , gray (unit) , medicine , nuclear medicine , psychiatry , radiology
Cerebral 1 H MR spectra were recorded in 13 children and adolescents with schizophrenia and 12 healthy children and adolescents. Stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) sequence was used to localize an 8‐ml voxel bilaterally in the frontal gray matter. The frontal gray matter metabolite ratios for NAA/Cr, Ch/Cr, Gix/Cr, and mI/Cr in schizophrenic children and adolescents were 1.08 ± .28, .64 ± .23, 1.09 ± .30, and .60 ± .24, respectively. In comparison, these ratios were 1.59 ± .35, .74 ± .27, 1.23 ± .36, and .58 ± .29 in healthy children and adolescents. Decrease in the frontal lobe NAA/Cr of schizophrenic children and adolescents was statistically significant (P < .001). In contrast, the MR spectra localized bilaterally in the occipital gray matter (8 ml) showed no significant changes between the patients and the controls. In the occipital gray matter, the metabolite ratios were 1.21 ± .26, .52 ± .08, 1.00 ± .11, and .55 ± .12 in patients versus 1.30 ± .23, .45 ± .10, 1.15 ± .20, and .48 ± .19 in controls. Our preliminary finding of reduced NAA/Cr ratio in the frontal gray matter is consistent with the neurodevelopmental models emphasizing dysfunction of frontal lobe areas in patients with schizophrenia.