Re: Auditory fMRI as a reliable diagnostic of schizophrenia? (Pierre Divenyi )


Subject: Re: Auditory fMRI as a reliable diagnostic of schizophrenia?
From:    Pierre Divenyi  <pdivenyi(at)EBIRE.ORG>
Date:    Fri, 23 Apr 2004 19:20:08 -0700

Interesting. However, the composition of the control group may be disputable. Should not they have compared their schizophrenic sample with, say, a manic-depressive sample? Pierre Divenyi At 06:54 PM 4/23/2004, Tony Miller wrote: >[I thought some AUDITORY listmembers might be interested... -AJM] > >-----------------Press Release-------------------- >http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/04-04-21-01.all.html > >Imaging test could be used to diagnose schizophrenia > >New Haven, Conn. -- An abnormal pattern in an area of the brain that >governs hearing may be an accurate method of diagnosing schizophrenia, >according to a study by Yale researchers and collaborators. > >"These results seem to point to a cardinal abnormality in >schizophrenia," said Godfrey Pearlson, M.D., professor of psychiatry at >Yale School of Medicine, director of the Olin Neurospychiatry Research >Center at the Institute of Living in Hartford, and senior author of the >study published in Biological Psychiatry. "Using this imaging test, we >were able to identify patients with schizophrenia with 97 percent accuracy." > >Pearlson, Vince Calhoun and Kent Kiehl later replicated their initial >finding with an independent sample and achieved a 94 percent rate of >accuracy. Calhoun and Kiehl have appointments at the Olin Center and Yale. > >Currently, the clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia is based on a >constellation of psychiatric symptoms. The mental illness also has been >associated with both structural and functional abnormalities in >neocortical networks including frontal, parietal, and temporal regions >of the brain, but there has been no diagnostic test for the disorder. > >Abnormalities in auditory cortex structure and function are prominent >features of the brains in persons with schizophrenia, particularly in >the superior temporal gyrus (SRG). Reduction in size of the SRG may >correlate with the severity of auditory hallucinations and of formal >thought disorder. However, all of these previously documented anatomic >differences overlap significantly with those of healthy controls and are >thus not useful for diagnosis. > >"Therefore, this newly reported functional brain change results in >almost total separation of patients and healthy controls in two >independent samples, and thus has possible diagnostic utility," Pearlson >said. > >Data were collected from two locations. One group consisted of 17 >outpatients with chronic schizophrenia matched with 17 healthy persons >in Vancouver, B.C. Another group consisted of eight patients and eight >healthy persons in Hartford, Conn. > >"These results have the potential to provide a powerful, quantitative >clinical tool for the assessment of schizophrenia," Pearlson said. > >-----------------Pubmed Abstract-------------------- > >http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15050866 > >Aberrant localization of synchronous hemodynamic activity in auditory >cortex reliably characterizes schizophrenia. > >Calhoun VD, Kiehl KA, Liddle PF, Pearlson GD. >Biol Psychiatry. 2004 Apr 15;55(8):842-9. >Institute of Living, Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center, 200 Retreat >Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106, USA. > >BACKGROUND: Among the most prominent features of schizophrenic brains >are abnormalities in auditory cortex structure and function, >particularly in the superior temporal gyrus (STG). In this study, we >attempted to examine auditory cortex function using an intrinsic, >task-uncorrelated measure. METHODS: Using functional magnetic resonance >imaging data, we calculated synchronous hemodynamic independent maps >(SHIMs) of auditory cortex in patients with schizophrenia and matched >healthy control subjects while they performed an auditory oddball task. >RESULTS: Patient SHIMs revealed greater synchrony in ventral and medial >STG regions (including auditory association Brodmann area [BA] 42); >control SHIMs had greater synchrony in dorsal and lateral STG regions >(which did not include BA 42). A within-participant subtractive >comparison of these two sets of regions differentiated schizophrenic >from healthy control subjects with 97% accuracy initially (further >validated by a retest of the healthy control subjects) and performed >with 94% accuracy in a confirmatory study of new subjects scanned at a >different site. CONCLUSIONS: These results shed new light on STG >functional differences in schizophrenia, suggest that aberrant patterns >of coherence in temporal lobe cortical regions are a cardinal >abnormality in schizophrenia, and have the potential to provide a >powerful, quantitative clinical tool for the assessment of schizophrenia. > >-- >Tony Miller >Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary >243 Charles St, Boston, MA 02114 >ajmiller(at)mit.edu | (617) 510-3629 | http://tonymiller.info


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