[Comparison of white matter integrity of schizophrenic patients with and without impulsive behaviors by diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging].

OBJECTIVE

To compare the regional white matter integrity of schizophrenics with impulsive behaviors versus those without.

METHODS

Seventeen patients with first-episode-schizophrenia impulsive behaviors and 24 patients with first-episode-schizophrenia non-impulsive behaviors underwent diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging with a single-shot echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence aligned to straight axial plane. The fractional anisotropy (FA) images of two groups received two-sample t-test with SPM5 software.

RESULTS

The patients with impulsive behaviors demonstrated a significant decrement of white matter FA values in left precentral gyrus (MNI: x = -28.00, y = -28.72, z = -54.71; cluster = 79 voxels), left cerebellum anterior lobe (MNI: x = -22, y = -56, z = -28; cluster = 130 voxels) and left occipital lobe (MNI: x = -6, y = -72, z = 6; cluster = 54 voxels).

CONCLUSION

The altered white matter integrity of left precentral gyrus, cerebellum anterior lobe and occipital lobe may be involved in the neural mechanism of impulsive behaviors in schizophrenia.