AIM: Previous studies have suggested altered structural and functional asymmetry of the brain in schizophrenia. METHODS: Functional MRI was used to assess differences in cortical activation during a verbal task in Broca's area and its contralateral homologue in four pairs of right-handed monozygotic (MZ) twins discordant and concordant for schizophrenia with low and high familial loading for the illness and four healthy control MZ twin pairs. RESULTS: Pooled data from all subjects with schizophrenia showed increased activation in the right homologue of Broca's area in contrast to healthy individuals. Concordant twins (i.e. high familial loading group) showed prominent between co-twin differences in lateralization index within given region of interest. Intra-pair differences in lateralization index were significantly higher in concordant twins compared to the controls (0.69+/-0.4 vs. 0.13+/-0.13, P<0.03), albeit no significant differences in the variable were shown between the discordant and control groups. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence of reduced cerebral dominance for language processing in patients with schizophrenia. The findings further suggest the need for additional research on relative proportion of genetic and environmental factors underlying deviations of functional asymmetry in schizophrenia.
AIM: Previous studies have suggested altered structural and functional asymmetry of the brain in schizophrenia. METHODS: Functional MRI was used to assess differences in cortical activation during a verbal task in Broca's area and its contralateral homologue in four pairs of right-handed monozygotic (MZ) twins discordant and concordant for schizophrenia with low and high familial loading for the illness and four healthy control MZ twin pairs. RESULTS: Pooled data from all subjects with schizophrenia showed increased activation in the right homologue of Broca's area in contrast to healthy individuals. Concordant twins (i.e. high familial loading group) showed prominent between co-twin differences in lateralization index within given region of interest. Intra-pair differences in lateralization index were significantly higher in concordant twins compared to the controls (0.69+/-0.4 vs. 0.13+/-0.13, P<0.03), albeit no significant differences in the variable were shown between the discordant and control groups. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence of reduced cerebral dominance for language processing in patients with schizophrenia. The findings further suggest the need for additional research on relative proportion of genetic and environmental factors underlying deviations of functional asymmetry in schizophrenia.
Authors: Ulrich Ettinger; Anne Schmechtig; Timothea Toulopoulou; Charmaine Borg; Claire Orrells; Sheena Owens; Kazunori Matsumoto; Neeltje E van Haren; Mei-Hua Hall; Veena Kumari; Philip K McGuire; Robin M Murray; Marco Picchioni Journal: Schizophr Bull Date: 2010-06-10 Impact factor: 9.306
Authors: New Fei Ho; Zhengjun Li; Fang Ji; Mingyuan Wang; Carissa N Kuswanto; Min Yi Sum; Han Ying Tng; Yih Yian Sitoh; Kang Sim; Juan Zhou Journal: J Psychiatry Neurosci Date: 2017-06 Impact factor: 6.186
Authors: Tejas S Bhojraj; Alan N Francis; Rajaprabhakaran Rajarethinam; Shaun Eack; Shreedhar Kulkarni; Konasale M Prasad; Debra M Montrose; Diana Dworakowski; Vaibhav Diwadkar; Matcheri S Keshavan Journal: Schizophr Res Date: 2009-10-17 Impact factor: 4.939