Abstract
Background: Hippocampal atrophy has been described in postmortem and magnetic resonance
imaging studies of schizophrenia. The specificity of this finding to schizophrenia
remains to be determined. The neuropathology of bipolar disorder is understudied,
and temporal lobe structures have only recently been evaluated.
Methods: Twenty-four bipolar, 20 schizophrenic, and 18 normal comparison subjects
were evaluated using magnetic resonance brain imaging. Image data were acquired using
a three-dimensional spoiled GRASS sequence, and brain images were reformatted in three
planes. Temporal lobe structures including the amygdala, hippocampus, parahippocampus,
and total temporal lobe were measured to obtain volumes for each structure in the
three subject groups. Severity of symptoms in both patient groups was assessed at
the time the magnetic resonance images were obtained.
Results: Hippocampal volumes were significantly smaller in the schizophrenic group
than in both bipolar and normal comparison subjects. Further, amygdala volumes were
significantly larger in the bipolar group than in both schizophrenic and normal comparison
subjects.
Conclusions: The results suggest differences in affected limbic structures in patients
with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. These specific neuroanatomic abnormalities
may shed light on the underlying pathophysiology and presentation of the two disorders.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
January 28,
2000
Received in revised form:
January 18,
2000
Received:
July 14,
1999
Identification
Copyright
© 2000 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
