Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T16:47:32.388Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Sensorimotor Cortex and Supplementary Motor Area Changes in Schizophrenia

A Study with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

J. Schröder*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry
F. Wenz
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Radiology, University of Heidelberg
L. R. Schad
Affiliation:
German Cancer Research Centre, Heidelberg, Germany
K. Baudendistel
Affiliation:
German Cancer Research Centre, Heidelberg, Germany
M. V. Knopp
Affiliation:
German Cancer Research Centre, Heidelberg, Germany
*
Dr Schröder, Department of Psychiatry, Voß-Strasse 4, 69115 Heidelberg, FRG. Fax: (06 221) 563477

Abstract

Background

Neurological soft signs (NSS) such as a disturbed finger-to-thumb opposition are frequently found in schizophrenia. To identify the underlying cerebral changes we investigated sensorimotor cortex and supplementary motor area (SMA) activation during finger-to-thumb opposition using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Method

Ten DSM–III–R schizophrenics and seven healthy controls were included. All subjects were right-handed. fMRI was carried out in a resting condition followed by an activation state (finger-to-thumb opposition) and the activities in the sensorimotor cortices and SMA recorded.

Results

All subjects showed a significant activation of the SMA and both ipsilateral and contralateral sensorimotor cortices. In the controls, ipsilateral finger-to-thumb opposition was associated with a greater left than right hemispheric sensorimotor cortex coactivation. When compared with the healthy controls, the schizophrenic patients showed a decreased activation of both sensorimotor cortices and SMA, as well as a reversed lateralisation effect.

Conclusion

Sensorimotor cortex and SMA dysfunction are associated with motor disturbances in schizophrenia.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.Google Scholar
Andreasen, N. C. (1983) The Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS). Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa.Google Scholar
Deiber, M.-P., Passingham, R. E., Colebatch, J. G., et al (1991) Cortical areas and the selection of movement: a study with positron emission tomography. Experimental Brain Research, 84, 393402.Google Scholar
Fox, P. T., Raichle, M. E. & Burde, R. M. (1985) The role of cerebral cortex in the generation of voluntary saccades: a positron emission tomography study. Journal of Neurophysiology, 54, 348369.Google Scholar
Friberg, L. & Roland, P. E. (1988) Functional activation and inhibition of regional cerebral blood flow and metabolism. In Basic Mechanisms of Headache (eds Olesen, J. & Edvinsson, L.). Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Friston, K. J., Frith, C. D., Liddle, P. F., et al (1991) Comparing functional (PET) images: the assessment of significant change. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 11, 690699.Google Scholar
Günther, W., Petsch, R., Steinberg, R., et al (1991) Brain dysfunction during motor activation and corpus callosum alterations in schizophrenia measured by cerebral blood flow and magnetic resonance imaging. Biological Psychiatry, 29, 535555.Google Scholar
Hamster, W., Langner, W. & Mayer, K. (1985) TÜLUC. Neuropsychologische Testbatterie. Weinheim: Beltz.Google Scholar
Horwitz, B. (1991) Functional interactions in the brain: use of correlations between regional metabolic rates. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 11, A114A120.Google Scholar
Kim, S.-G., Ashe, J., Hendrjch, K., et al (1993) Functional magnetic resonance imaging of motor cortex: hemispheric asymmetry and handedness. Science, 261, 615618.Google Scholar
King, D. J., Wilson, A., Cooper, S. J., et al (1991) The clinical correlates of neurological soft signs in chronic schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 770775.Google Scholar
Overall, J. E. & Gorham, D. R. (1962) The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Psychological Reports, 10, 799812.Google Scholar
Roland, P. E., Larsen, B., Lassen, N. A., et al (1980) Supplementary motor area and other cortical areas in organization of voluntary movements in man. Journal of Neurophysiology, 43, 118123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sabatini, U., Chollet, F., Rascol, O., et al (1993) Effect of side and rate of stimulation on cerebral blood flow changes in motor areas during finger movements in humans. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 13, 639645.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schad, L. R., Trost, U., Knopp, M. V., et al (1993) Motor cortex stimulation measured by magnetic resonance imaging on a standard 1.5T clinical scanner. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 11, 461464.Google Scholar
Schröder, J., Niethammer, R., Geider, F.-J., et al (1992) Neurological soft signs in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 6, 2530.Google Scholar
Schröder, J., Buchsbaum, M. S., Siegel, B. V., et al (1995) Structural and functional correlates of subsyndromes in chronic schizophrenia. Psychopathology, 28, 38.Google Scholar
Strauss, J. S. & Carpenter, W. T. Jr. (1974) The prediction of outcome in schizophrenia. II. Relationship between predictor and outcome variables. Archives of General Psychiatry, 31, 3742.Google Scholar
Wenz, F., Schad, L. R., Knopp, M. V., et al (1994) Functional magnetic resonance imaging at 1.5T: activation patterns in schizophrenic patients receiving neuroleptic medication. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 12, 975982.Google Scholar
Wise, R., Chollet, F. & Hadar, U. (1991) Distribution of cortical neural networks involved in comprehension and word retrieval. Brain, 114, 18031817.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.