Basal ganglia shape abnormalities in the unaffected siblings of schizophrenia patients.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Abnormalities of basal ganglia structure in schizophrenia have been attributed to the effects of antipsychotic drugs. Our aim was to test the hypothesis that abnormalities of basal ganglia structure are intrinsic features of schizophrenia by assessing basal ganglia volume and shape in the unaffected siblings of schizophrenia subjects.

Method

The study involved 25 pairs of schizophrenia subjects and their unaffected siblings and 40 pairs of healthy control subjects and their siblings. Large-deformation, high-dimensional brain mapping was used to obtain surface representations of the caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus. Surfaces were derived from transformations of anatomic templates, and shapes were analyzed using reduced-dimensional measures of surface variabili

SUBMITTER: Mamah D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2486271 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature