Diffusion tensor imaging study of the anterior limb of internal capsules in neuroleptic-naive schizophrenia

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Abnormalities in brain structure have been implicated in psychosis. Herein, we investigated the differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) and average diffusion coefficient (ADC) in the bilateral anterior limb of internal capsules between neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic patients and appropriately matched healthy controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Magnetic resonance imaging was performed with a 1.5 T superconductive MR scanner, and diffusion tensor imaging was carried out in 21 neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic patients and 18 matched healthy controls. FA and ADC were measured by region of interest analysis. RESULTS: Compared with healthy controls, the neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic patients showed significantly reduced FA in the bilateral anterior limb of the internal capsule. However, the difference in the ADC values between the patients and the controls was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: FA of the bilateral anterior limb of the internal capsule was reduced in neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic patients, indicating that the integrity of the white matter of the bilateral thalamus-frontal connection or the bilateral thalamus-anterior cingulate gyrus connection was destroyed.