METHODS: The voxel-based morphometry approach and whole-brain analyses were used to measure the alteration of gray matter volume (GMV) for 45 schizophrenia patients with violence (VSC), 45 schizophrenia patients without violence (NSC), and 53 healthy controls (HC). Correlation analyses were used to examine the association of impulsiveness and brain regions associated with violence.
RESULTS: The results demonstrated reduced GMV in the right insula within the VSC group compared with the NSC group, and decreased GMV in the right temporal pole and left orbital part of superior frontal gyrus only in the VSC group compared to the HC group. Spearman correlation analyses further revealed a positive correlation between impulsiveness and GMV of the left superior temporal gyrus, bilateral insula and left medial orbital part of the superior frontal gyrus in the VSC group.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings have provided further evidence for structural alterations in patients with SCZ who had engaged in severe violence, as well as the relationship between the specific brain alterations and impulsiveness. This work provides neural biomarkers and improves our insight into the neural underpinnings of violence in patients with SCZ.
方法:使用基于体素的形态计量学方法和全脑分析来测量45例暴力精神分裂症(VSC)患者的灰质体积(GMV)的变化。45名没有暴力的精神分裂症患者(NSC),和53名健康对照(HC)。相关分析用于检查冲动和与暴力相关的大脑区域的关联。
结果:结果表明,与NSC组相比,VSC组右侧脑岛的GMV降低,与HC组相比,仅VSC组额上回右颞极和左眶部分的GMV降低。Spearman相关分析进一步揭示了冲动与左颞上回GMV之间的正相关。VSC组双侧脑岛和左额上回内侧眶部。
结论:我们的发现为严重暴力的SCZ患者的结构改变提供了进一步的证据,以及特定的大脑改变和冲动之间的关系。这项工作提供了神经生物标志物,并提高了我们对SCZ患者暴力的神经基础的洞察力。