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Cerebral hemispheric asymmetry revisited: effects of handedness, gender and schizophrenia measured by radius of gyration in magnetic resonance images

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

E. Bullmore ,
M. Brammer ,
I. Harvey ,
R. Murray  and
M. Ron
E. Bullmore*
Affiliation:
Departments of Neuroscience, Biostatistics and Computing, Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Neurology, London
M. Brammer
Affiliation:
Departments of Neuroscience, Biostatistics and Computing, Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Neurology, London
I. Harvey
Affiliation:
Departments of Neuroscience, Biostatistics and Computing, Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Neurology, London
R. Murray
Affiliation:
Departments of Neuroscience, Biostatistics and Computing, Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Neurology, London
M. Ron
Affiliation:
Departments of Neuroscience, Biostatistics and Computing, Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Neurology, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Edward Bullmore, Department of Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF.
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Synopsis

Abnormal patterns of cerebral hemispheric asymmetry have been inconsistently reported in association with schizophrenia. Radius of gyration (Rg) is a measure of the mean dispersion of points in a radially organized structure about that structure's centre of gravity. We developed computerized methods for estimating Rg of the magnetic resonance image (MRI) boundary between cortex and subcortex, and applied these methods to measurement of cerebral hemispheric asymmetry in 37 schizophrenics (SZs) and 30 controls (CONs). In right-handed CONs, Rg of right brain boundaries was significantly greater than Rg of left brain boundaries; in left-handed CONs, Rg of left brain boundaries was significantly greater than Rg of right brain boundaries. In right-handed males (both SZ and CON), there were significant differences in Rg between hemispheres; whereas in females (both SZ and CON) there were no such differences. Right-handed male SZs (N = 26) were distinguished by reversal of the right-handed male CON pattern of interhemispheric difference in Rg, and by global reduction in Rg of right brain boundaries. There was no evidence for significant abnormality of Rg in right-handed female SZs (N = 7). These findings suggest an important interactive effect of gender and schizophrenia on lateralized cerebral structure.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , March 1995 , pp. 349 - 363
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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