The application of neuropathologically sensitive MRI techniques to the study of psychosis

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511550072.007

6 - The application of neuropathologically sensitive MRI techniques to the study of psychosis

from Part III - New ways of imaging the brain

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 January 2010

Maria A Ron and

Jacqueline Foong

Edited by

Maria A. Ron and

Trevor W. Robbins

Show author details

Maria A Ron: Affiliation:
Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
Jacqueline Foong: Affiliation:
Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
Maria A. Ron: Affiliation:
Institute of Neurology, London
Trevor W. Robbins: Affiliation:
University of Cambridge

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Introduction

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become the technique of choice to study subtle structural brain abnormalities and its value is well established in psychiatric research. Early studies aimed at detecting diffuse volumetric changes in patient populations have recently been superseded by advances in image analysis (e.g. voxel-based morphometry) that make it possible to detect minor, but functionally significant, focal volumetric changes (see Chapter 5 by Chitnis and Ellison-Wright). The yield of conventional MRI for psychiatry is not yet exhausted, but even with the help of sophisticated methods of image analysis some drawbacks will always limit its value. The first of these drawbacks is the lack of pathological specificity that makes it impossible to separate such diverse pathological processes as oedema, inflammation or gliosis. The second, especially relevant to psychiatry, is the fact that neuropathological abnormalities, whether developmental or degenerative, can be detected only when they are severe enough to cause loss of volume. These limitations make the use of these MRI techniques compelling, because of their potential to provide more specific neuropathological information and their ability to detect abnormalities invisible on conventional MRI. The two main techniques are magnetization transfer imaging (MTI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Here we describe these techniques, the neuropathological insights they can provide and their application to the study of psychiatric disease, schizophrenia in particular.

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: Disorders of Brain and Mind , pp. 128 - 148

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511550072.007 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Agartz, I, Andersson, J L R and Skare, S (2001). Abnormal brain white matter in schizophrenia: a diffusion tensor imaging study. Neuroreport, 12, 2251–4Google Scholar

Altshuler, L L, Curran, J G, Hauser, P, Mintz, J, Denicoff, K and Post, R (1995). T2 hyperintensities in bipolar disorder: magnetic resonance imaging comparison and literature meta-analyis. Am J Psychiatry, 152, 1139–44Google Scholar

Altshuler, L L, Bartzokis, G, Grieder, T et al. (2000). An MRI study of temporal lobe structures in men with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry, 48, 147–62Google Scholar

Andreasen, N C, Paradiso, S and O'Leary, D S (1998). ‘Cognitive dysmetria’ as an integrative theory of schizophrenia: a dysfunction in cortical-subcortical-cerebellar circuitry?Schizophr Bull, 24, 203–18Google Scholar

Arnold, S E, Lee, V M-Y, Gur, R E and Trojanoski, J Q (1991). Abnormal expression of two microtubule-associated proteins (MAP2 and MAP5) in specific subfields of the hippocampal formation in schizophrenia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 88, 10850–4Google Scholar

Bagary, M S, Foong, J, Maier, M et al. (in press). A magnetization transfer analysis of the thalamus in schizophrenia. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci

Barker, G J, Tofts, P S and Gass, A (1996). An interleaved sequence for accurate and reproducible clinical measurement of magnetization transfer ratio. Magn Reson Imaging, 14, 403–11Google Scholar

Basser, P, Mattiello, J and LeBihan, D (1994). Estimation of the effective self-diffusion tensor from the NMR spin-echo. J Magn Reson, 103, 247–54Google Scholar

Basser, P J, Pajevic, S, Pierpaoli, C, Duda, J and Aldroubi, A (2000). In vivo fiber tractography using DT-MRI data. Magn Reson Med, 44, 625–32Google Scholar

Benes, F M, Turtle, M, Khan, Y and Farol, P (1994). Myelination of a key relay zone in the hippocampal formation occurs in the human brain during childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 51, 477–84Google Scholar

Bosma, G P, Rood, M J, Zwinderman, A H, Huizinga, T W and Buchem, M A (2000). Evidence of central nervous system damage in patients with neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus, demonstrated by magnetization transfer imaging. Arthritis Rheum, 43, 48–54Google Scholar

Botteron, K N, Figiel, G S, Wetzel, M W, Hudziak, J and Eerdewegh, M (1992). MRI abnormalities in adolescent bipolar affective disorder. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 31, 258–61Google Scholar

Bruno, S D, Bagary, M S, Symms, M and Ron, M A (2001). An in-vivo MRI study of neuropathology of bipolar disorder using diffusion weighted imaging and magnetisation transfer imaging. Schizophr Res, 49 (Suppl. 1), 151Google Scholar

Buchsbaum, M S, Tang, C Y, Peled, S et al. (1998). MRI white matter diffusion anisotropy and PET metabolic rate in schizophrenia. Neuroreport, 9, 425–30Google Scholar

Cercignani, M, Bozzali, M, Iannucci, G, Comi, G and Fillippi, M (2001). Magnetization transfer ratio and mean diffusivity of normal appearing white and grey matter from patients with multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 70, 311–17Google Scholar

Chalela, J A, Wolf, R L, Maldjian, J A and Kasner, S E (2001). MRI identification of early white matter injury in anoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Neurology, 56, 481–5Google Scholar

Ciccarelli, O, Werring, D J, Wheeler-Kingshott, C A et al. (2001). Investigations of MS normal-appearing brain using diffusion tensor MRI with clinical correlations. Neurology, 56, 926–33Google Scholar

Davie, C A, Silver, N C, Barker, G J et al. (1999). Does the extent of axonal loss and demyelination from chronic lesions in multiple sclerosis correlate with the clinical subgroup?J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 67, 710–15Google Scholar

DeLisi, L E, Tew, W, Xie, S et al. (1995). A prospective follow-up study of brain morphology and cognition in first episode schizophrenic patients: preliminary findings. Biol Psychiatry, 38, 349–60Google Scholar

Deloire-Grassin, M S, Brochet, B et al. (2000). In vivo evaluation of remyelination in rat brain by magnetization transfer imaging. J Neurol Sci, 178, 10–16Google Scholar

Dousset, V, Grossman, R I, Ramer, K N et al. (1992). Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis: lesion characterization with magnetization transfer imaging. Radiology, 182, 483–91Google Scholar

Dousset, V, Armand, J P, Lacoste, D et al. (1997). Magnetization transfer study of HIV encephalitis and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. Am J Neuroradiol, 18, 895–901Google Scholar

Drevets, W C, Price, J L, Simpson, J R Jr et al. (1997). Subgenual prefrontal cortex abnormalities in mood disorders. Nature, 386, 824–7Google Scholar

Elkis, H, Friedman, L, Wise, A and Meltzer, H (1995). Meta-analysis of studies of ventricular enlargement and cortical sulcal prominence in mood disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 52, 735–46Google Scholar

Eriksson, S H, Rugg-Gunn, F J, Symms, M R, Barker, G J and Duncan, J S (2001). Diffusion tensor imaging in patients with epilepsy and malformations of cortical development. Brain, 124, 617–26Google Scholar

Fazekas, F, Ropele, S, Bammer, R, Kapeller, P, Stollberger, R and Schmidt, R (2000). Novel imaging technologies in the assessment of cerebral ageing and vascular dementia. J Neural Transm, 59, 45–52Google Scholar

Filippi, M, Inglese, M, Rovaris, M et al. (2000). Magnetization transfer imaging to monitor the evolution of MS: a 1-year follow-up study. Neurology, 55, 940–6Google Scholar

Foong, J, Maier, M, Barker, G J, Miller, D H and Ron, M A (2000). In vivo investigation of white matter pathology in schizophrenia with magnetization transfer imaging. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 68, 70–4Google Scholar

Foong, J, Symms, M R, Barker, G J et al. (2001). Neuropathological abnormalities in schizophrenia: evidence from magnetization transfer imaging. Brain, 124, 882–92Google Scholar

Friston, K J and Frith, C D (1995). Schizophrenia: a disconnection syndrome?Clin Neurosci, 3, 89–97Google Scholar

Gass, A, Barker, G J, Kidd, D et al. (1994). Correlation of magnetization transfer ratio and clinical disability in multiple sclerosis. Ann Neurol, 36, 62–7Google Scholar

Glantz, L A and Lewis, D A (1997). Reduction of synaptophysin immunoreactivity in the prefrontal cortex of subjects with schizophrenia: regional and diagnostic specificity. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 54, 943–52Google Scholar

Glantz, L A and Lewis, D A (2000). Decreased dendritic spine density on prefrontal cortical pyramidal neurons in schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 57, 65–73Google Scholar

Golomb, M R, Durand, M L, Schaefer, P W, McDonald, C T, Maia, M and Schwamm, L H (2001). A case of immunotherapy-responsive eastern equine encephalitis with diffusion-weighted imaging. Neurology, 56, 420–1Google Scholar

Hajnal, J V, Doran, M and Hall, A S (1991). MR imaging of anisotropically restricted diffusion of water in the nervous system: technical, anatomic and pathological considerations. J Comput Assist Tomogr, 5, 1–18Google Scholar

Hakak, Y, Walker, J R, Li, C et al. (2001). Genome-wide expression analysis reveals dysregulation of myelination-related genes in chronic schizophrenia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 98, 4746–51Google Scholar

Harrison, P J (1999). The neuropathology of schizophrenia: a critical review of the data and their interpretation. Brain, 122, 593–624Google Scholar

Harrison, P J and Eastwood, S L (1998). Preferential involvement of excitatory neurons in medial temporal lobe in schizophrenia. Lancet, 352, 1669–73Google Scholar

Harvey, I, Ron, M A, Du Boulay, G, Wicks, D, Lewis, S W and Murray, R M (1993). Reduction of cortical volume in schizophrenia on magnetic resonance imaging. Psychol Med, 23, 591–604Google Scholar

Hedehus, M, Crespigny, A, Menon, V, Moseley, M and Lim, K O (1998). Mapping of white matter tracts in schizophrenics using diffusion tensor imaging. Proc Int Soc Magn Reson Med, 1342Google Scholar

Highley, J R, Esiri, M M, McDonald, B, Cortina-Borja, M, Herron, B M and Crow, T J (1999). The size and fibre composition of the corpus callosum with respect to gender and schizophrenia: a post mortem study. Brain, 122, 99–110Google Scholar

Hyde, T M, Ziegler, J C and Weinberger, D R (1992). Psychiatric disturbances in metachromatic leukodystrophy: insights into the neurobiology of psychosis. Arch Neurol, 49, 401–6Google Scholar

Kado, H, Kimura, H, Tsuchida, T, Yonekura, Y, Tokime, T and Tokuriki, Y (2001). Abnormal magnetization transfer ratios in normal-appearing white matter in conventional MR images of patients with occlusive cerebrovascular disease. Am J Neuroradiol, 22, 922–7Google Scholar

Kimura, H, Meaney, D F, McGowan, J C et al. (1996). Magnetization transfer imaging of diffuse axonal injury following experimental brain injury in the pig: characterisation by magnetization transfer and histopathological correlation. J Comput Assist Tomogr, 20, 540–6Google Scholar

Kumra, S, Giedd, J N, Vaituzis, A C et al. (2000). Childhood-onset psychotic disorders: magnetic resonance imaging of volumetric differences in brain structure. Am J Psychiatry, 157, 1467–74Google Scholar

Lawrie, S M and Abukmeil, S S (1998). Brain abnormality in schizophrenia – a systematic and quantitative review of volumetric magnetic resonance imaging studies. Br J Psychiatry, 172, 110–20Google Scholar

Bihan, D, Mangin, J F, Poupon, C et al. (2001). Diffusion tensor imaging: concepts and applications. J Magn Reson Imaging, 13, 534–46Google Scholar

Lexa, F J, Grossman, R J and Rosenquist, A C (1994). MR of wallerian degeneration in the feline visual system: characterisation by magnetization transfer rate with histopathological correlation. Am J Neuroradiol, 15, 201–12Google Scholar

Lim, K O, Hedehus, M, Moseley, M, Crespigny, A, Sullivan, E and Pfeferbaum, A (1999). Compromised white matter tract integrity in schizophrenia inferred from diffusion tensor imaging. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 56, 367–74Google Scholar

Liu, A Y, Maldjian, J A, Bagley, L J, Sinson, G P and Grossman, R I (1999). Traumatic brain injury: diffusion-weighted MR imaging findings. Am J Neuroradiol, 20, 1636–41Google Scholar

Marmarou, A, Portella, G, Barzo, P et al. (2000). Distinguishing between cellular and vasogenic edema in head injured patients with focal lesions using magnetic resonance imaging. Acta Neurochir, 76 (Suppl.), 349–51Google Scholar

Matoba, M, Tonami, H, Miyaji, H, Yokota, H and Yamamoto, I (2001). Creutzfeld–Jakob disease: serial changes on diffusion weighted MRI. J Comput Assist Tomogr, 25, 274–7Google Scholar

Mehta, R C, Pike, G B and Enzmann, D R (1996). Measure of magnetization transfer in multiple sclerosis demyelinating plaques, white matter ischemic lesions, and edema. Am J Neuroradiol, 17, 1051–5Google Scholar

Miranda, M J, Born, P and Wiegell, M R (1998). White matter tract visualisation in infants by diffusion tensor MRI. Proc Int Soc Magn Reson Med, 528Google Scholar

Mottershead, J P, Thornton, J S, Clemence, M et al. (1998). Correlation of spinal cord axonal density with post mortem NMR measurements in multiple sclerosis and controls. Proc Int Soc Magn Reson Med, 2163Google Scholar

Murray, R M and Lewis, S W (1987). Is schizophrenia a neurodevelopmental disorder?Br Med J, 295, 681–2Google Scholar

Nasrallah, H A, McCalley-Whitters, M, Bigelow, L B and Rauscher, F P (1983). A histological study of the corpus callosum in chronic schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res, 8, 251–60Google Scholar

Pailliere-Martinot, M, Caclin, A, Artiges, E et al. (2001). Cerebral gray and white matter reductions and clinical correlates in patients with early onset schizophrenia. Schizophr Res, 50, 19–26Google Scholar

Pendleburyab, S T, Lee, M A, Blamire, A M, Styles, P and Matthews, P M (2000). Correlating magnetic resonance imaging markers of axonal injury and demyelination in motor impairment secondary to stroke and multiple sclerois. Magn Reson Imaging, 18, 369–78Google Scholar

Persaud, R, Russow, H, Harvey, I et al. (1997). Focal signal hyperintensities in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res, 27, 55–64Google Scholar

Puri, B K, Hutton, S B, Saeed, N et al. (2001). A serial longitudinal quantitative MRI study of cerebral changes in first episode schizophrenia using image segmentation and subvoxel registration. Psychiatry Res, 106, 141–50Google Scholar

Rosoklija, G, Toomayan, G, Ellis, S P et al. (2000). Structural abnormalities of subicular dendrites in subjects with schizophrenia and mood disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 57, 349–56Google Scholar

Rovaris, M, Viti, B, Ciboddo, G et al. (2000). Brain involvement in systemic immune mediated diseases: magnetic resonance and magnetization transfer imaging study. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 68, 170–7Google Scholar

Rugg-Gunn, F J, Eriksson, S H, Symms, M R, Barker, G J and Duncan, J S (2001). Diffusion tensor imaging of cryptogenic and acquired partial epilepsy. Brain, 124, 627–36Google Scholar

Sapolsky, R (2000). Glucocorticoids and hippocampal atrophy in neuropsychiatric disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 57, 925–35Google Scholar

Schwamm, L H, Koroshetz, W J, Sorensen, A G et al. (1998). Time course of lesion development in patients with acute stroke: serial diffusion and hemodynamic-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Stroke, 29, 2268–76Google Scholar

Selemon, L D and Goldman-Rakic, P S (1999). The reduced neuropil hypothesis: a circuit based model of schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry, 45, 17–25Google Scholar

Selemon, L D, Rajkowska, G and Goldman-Rakic, P S (1998). Elevated neuronal density in prefrontal area 46 in brains from schizophrenic patients: application of a three dimensional, stereologic counting method. J Comp Neurol, 392, 402–12Google Scholar

Sigmundsson, T, Suckling, J, Maier, M et al. (2001). Structural abnormalities in frontal, temporal and limbic regions and interconnecting white matter tracts in schizophrenic patients with prominent negative symptoms. Am J Psychiatry, 158, 234–43Google Scholar

Silver, N C, Barker, G J, MacManus, D G, Tofts, P S and Miller, D H (1997). Magnetization transfer ratio of normal brain white matter: a normative database spanning four decades of life. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 62, 223–38Google Scholar

Steel, R M, Bastin, M E, McConnell, S et al. (2001). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) in schizophrenic subjects and normal controls. Psychiatry Res, 106, 161–70Google Scholar

Stoll, L, Renshaw, P, Yurgelum-Todd, D and Cohen, B (2000). Neuroimaging in bipolar disorder: what have we learned?Biol Psychiatry, 48, 505–17Google Scholar

Strakowski, S M, DelBello, M P, Sax, K W et al. (1999). Brain magnetic resonance imaging of structural abnormalities in bipolar disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 56, 254–60Google Scholar

Thompson, P M, Vidal, C, Giedd, J N et al. (2001). Mapping adolescent brain change reveals dynamic wave of accelerated gray matter loss in very early-onset schizophrenia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 98, 11650–5Google Scholar

Traboulsee, A, Chard, D T, Dehmeshki, J, Foong, J, Barker, G J, Miller, D H (2001). Age and gender effects on segmented brain fractions and MTR histograms in a normal control population. Multiple Sclerosis, 7 (Suppl. 1), S87Google Scholar

Waesberghe, J H, Kamphorst, W, Groot, C J et al. (1999). Axonal loss in multiple sclerosis lesions: magnetic resonance imaging insights into substrates of disability. Ann Neurol, 46, 747–54Google Scholar

Velakoulis, D, Pantelis, C, McGorry, P D et al. (1999). Hippocampal volume in first-episode psychosis and chronic schizophrenia: a high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging study. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 56, 133–41Google Scholar

Weinberger, D R (1987). Implications of normal brain development for the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 44, 660–9Google Scholar

Weinberger, D R, Berman, K F, Suddath, R L and Torrey, E F (1992). Evidence of dysfunction of a prefrontal-limbic network in schizophrenia: a magnetic resonance imaging and regional cerebral blood flow study of discordant monozygotic twins. Am J Psychiatry, 149, 890–7Google Scholar

Werring, D J, Clark, C A, Barker, G J, Thompson, A J and Miller, D H (1999). Diffusion tensor imaging of lesions and normal-appearing white matter in multiple sclerosis. Neurology, 52, 1626–32Google Scholar

Wieshmann, U C, Symms, M R, Franconi, F, Clark, C A, Barker, G J and Shorvon, S D (1998). Reduced diffusion anisotropy in malformations of cortical development. Proc Int Soc Magn Reson Med, 1245Google Scholar

Woodruff, P W R, McManus, I C and David, A S (1995). Meta-analysis of corpus callosum size in schizophrenia. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 58, 457–61Google Scholar

Wright, I C, Sharma, T, Ellison, Z R et al. (1999). Supra-regional brain systems and the neuropathology of schizophrenia. Cereb Cortex, 9, 366–78Google Scholar

Wright, I C, Rabe-Hesketh, S, Woodruff, P W, David, A S, Murray, R M and Bullmore, E T (2000). Meta-analysis of regional brain volumes in schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry, 157, 16–25Google Scholar

Zipursky, R B, Lambe, E K, Kapur, S K and Mikulis, D J (1998). Cerebral gray matter volume deficits in first episode psychosis. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 55, 540–6Google Scholar

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.