Background: Schizophrenia and autism share many behavioral and neurological similarities, including altered white matter tract structure. However, because schizophrenia and autism are rarely compared directly, it is difficult to establish whether white matter abnormalities are disorder-specific or are common across these disorders that share some symptomatology.

Methods: In the current study, we compared white matter water diffusion using tensor imaging in 25 adults with autism, 15 adults with schizophrenia, all with IQ scores above 88, and 19 neurotypical adults.

Results: Although the three groups evinced no statistically significant differences in measures of fractional anisotropy (FA), the schizophrenia group showed significantly greater mean diffusivity (MD; Cohen's d > 0.77), due to greater radial diffusivity (RD; Cohen's d > 0.92), compared to both the autism and control groups. This effect was evident across the brain rather than specific to a particular tract.

Conclusions: The greater MD and RD in schizophrenia appears to be diagnosis-specific. The altered diffusion may reflect subtle abnormalities in myelination, which could be a potential mechanism underlying the widespread behavioral deficits associated with schizophrenia.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6884694PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107233DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

white matter
16
schizophrenia autism
12
schizophrenia
8
structure schizophrenia
8
diffusivity cohen's
8
autism
5
white
4
matter structure
4
autism abnormal
4
abnormal diffusion
4

Similar Publications

White rot fungi can degrade lignin and improve the nutritional value of highly lignified biomass for ruminants. We screened for excellent fungi-biomass combinations by investigating the improvement of digestibility of wheat straw, barley straw, oat straw, rapeseed straw, miscanthus, new reed, spent reed from thatched roofs, and cocoa shells after colonisation by Ceriporiopsis subvermispora (CS), Lentinula edodes (LE), and Pleurotus eryngii (PE) (indicated by increased in vitro gas production [IVGP]). First, growth was evaluated for three fungi on all types of biomass, over a period of 17 days in race tubes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) currently serves as the primary diagnostic method for glioma detection and monitoring. The integration of neurosurgery, radiation therapy, pathology, and radiology in a multi-disciplinary approach has significantly advanced its diagnosis and treatment. However, the prognosis remains unfavorable due to treatment resistance, inconsistent response rates, and high recurrence rates after surgery.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Elevation of ganglioside degradation pathway drives GM2 and GM3 within amyloid plaques in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

Neurobiol Dis

January 2025

Vulnerable Brain Lab, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 5C1, Canada. Electronic address:

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that accounts for two-thirds of all dementia cases, and age is the strongest risk factor. In addition to the amyloid hypothesis, lipid dysregulation is now recognized as a core component of AD pathology. Gangliosides are a class of membrane lipids of the glycosphingolipid family and are enriched in the central nervous system (CNS).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A systematic review of diffusion tensor imaging and tractography in Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Parkinson's Disease Dementia.

Neurosci Biobehav Rev

January 2025

Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Level E4, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 2QQ, United Kingdom.

We reviewed studies that used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and tractography to characterise white matter changes in Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's Disease Dementia (PDD). The search included MEDLINE and EMBASE, and we used a narrative strategy to synthesise the evidence. Data was extracted from 57 studies, of which the majority were considered 'good quality'.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Distinction in the function and microstructure of white matter between major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

J Affect Disord

January 2025

Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, China; Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Cognition and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Hefei 230032, China; School of Mental Health and Psychological Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Mental Health, Hefei 230032, China; Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei 230088, China.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are two of the leading causes of impairment to human mental health. These two psychiatric disorders overlap in many symptoms and neurobiological features thus difficult to distinguish in some cases.

Methods: We enrolled 102 participants, comprising 40 patients with MDD, 32 patients with GAD and 30 matched healthy controls (HCs), to undergo multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!