Ridotto Corpus Callosum Brain Ratio (CCBR) in pazienti schizofrenici in assenza di una correlazione con le misure lineari del corpo calloso: Studio di Risonanza Magnetica Nucleare

Introduction. Several reports have suggested that some schizophrenic patients may have dysfunction in the transfer of information between the two cerebral hemispheres. Thus, the presence of an abnormal Corpus Callosum (CC) in schizophrenic patients suggests a possible anatomic basis for abnormal cognition resulting from either an increase or a decrease in communications between the two cerebral hemispheres. The aim of the study was to compare MRI CC characteristics in a sample of schizophrenic patients and in a group of matched normal subjects and to investigate possible correlations between the psychopatological status assessed by SANS, SAPS and PANSS and the CC measures. Material and Method. Using in vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging, midsagittal scans were used to calculate CC area (CCA), Brain Area (BA), CC length (LCC) and Corpus Callosum Brain Ratio (CCBR) in 20 male schizophrenic inpatients, whose psychopatological status had been previously assessed by SANS, SAPS and PANSS, and in 16 matched healthy control subjects. Results. The schizophrenic patients had a significantly smaller value of CCBR (p=0.041) than the control subjects. No correlation was found between LCC, CCA and CCBR in schizophrenics, whilst CCBR correlated significantly with LCC (p=0.0327) only in the healthy controls. Conclusions. The study confirms previous researches indicating a smaller CCBR in schizophrenia and, by showing an absence of correlation between CCBR and LCC only in the patient's group, suggests a possible role of an alterated development of such cerebral structure in schizophrenia.