Connectivity-enhanced diffusion analysis reveals white matter density disruptions in first episode and chronic schizophrenia.

ABSTRACT: Reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) is a well-established correlate of schizophrenia, but it remains unclear whether these tensor-based differences are the result of axon damage and/or organizational changes and whether the changes are progressive in the adult course of illness. Diffusion MRI data were collected in 81 schizophrenia patients (54 first episode and 27 chronic) and 64 controls. Analysis of FA was combined with "fixel-based" analysis, the latter of which leverages connectivity and crossing-fiber information to assess both fiber bundle density and organizational complexity (i.e., presence and magnitude of off-axis diffusion signal). Compared with controls, patients with schizophrenia displayed clusters of significantly lower FA in the bilateral frontal lobes, right dorsal centrum

SUBMITTER: Grazioplene RG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5964624 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature