Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Structural Connectivity, and Schizophrenia
Open Access
- 1 January 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Hindawi Limited in Schizophrenia Research and Treatment
- Vol. 2011, 1-7
- https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/709523
Abstract
A fundamental tenet of the “disconnectivity” theories of schizophrenia is that the disorder is ultimately caused by abnormal communication between spatially disparate brain structures. Given that the white matter fasciculi represent the primary infrastructure for long distance communication in the brain, abnormalities in these fiber bundles have been implicated in the etiology of schizophrenia. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that enables the visualization of white matter macrostructurein vivo, and which has provided unprecedented insight into the existence and nature of white matter abnormalities in schizophrenia. The paper begins with an overview of DTI and more commonly used diffusion metrics and moves on to a brief review of the schizophrenia literature. The functional implications of white matter abnormalities are considered, particularly with respect to myelin's role in modulating the transmission velocity of neural discharges. The paper concludes with a speculative hypothesis about the relationship between gray and white matter abnormalities associated with schizophrenia.Keywords
Funding Information
- National Health and Medical Research Council (520627, 17537, R03 MH068464-0, R01 MH 50747, K05 MH 070047, P50 MH 080272)
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