Cavum septum pellucidum y esquizofrenia. Un caso clínico / Cavum septum pellucidum and schizophrenia. A clinical case

del sistema límbico que forma las paredesmediales de los ventrículos laterales y constade dos láminas, el cavum septum pellucidum(CSP) es una cavidad que aparece cuandoestas láminas no se fusionan.Su incidencia es muy variable, pero lo normales que desaparezca en los primeros mesesde vida. Su presencia puede considerarseuna alteración del neurodesarrollo, teniendoen cuenta su tamaño.Hacemos una revisión histórica de su vinculacióncon la esquizofrenia y otros trastornosmentales. Es poco frecuente en laesquizofrenia y depende del tamaño considerado.Entre el 15 y el 58% sería una tasade prevalencia citada frecuentemente.Presentamos un caso clínico de un pacienteque padece esquizofrenia y abusode fármacos analgésicos y tranquilizantes,con predominio de sintomatología negativa,conductual, cognitiva (aprendizaje verbaldiferido, velocidad de procesamiento, fluidezverbal, etc.) y de lenguaje (pobreza delcontenido del lenguaje, perseveración, tangencialidad,etc.). En la TAC se observa CSPde gran tamaño. (AU)

The septum pellucidum is a componentof the limbic system that forms the medialwalls of the lateral ventricles and consistsof two sheets, the cavum septum pellucidum(CSP) is a cavity that appears when thesesheets do not fuse.Its incidence is highly variable, but it isnormal for it to disappear in the first monthsof life. Its presence can be considered a neurodevelopmentaldisorder, taking into accountits size.We make a historical review of its link withschizophrenia and other mental disorders. Itis rare in schizophrenia and depends on thesize considered. Between 15 and 58% wouldbe a frequently cited prevalence rate.We present a clinical case of a patientsuffering from schizophrenia and abuse ofanalgesic and tranquilizing drugs, with apredominance of negative, behavioral, cognitivesymptoms (delayed verbal learning,processing speed, verbal fluency, etc.) andlanguage (poor content of the language,perseveration, tangentiality, etc.). Large CSPis seen on CT. (AU)

Agrypnia excitata and obstructive apnea in a patient with fatal familial insomnia from China: A case report.

RATIONALE: Fatal familial insomnia (FFI) linked to a D178N/129M haplotype mutation in the PRNP gene is the most common genetic prion disease in the Han Chinese population. Here, we describe a Han Chinese patient with FFI who exhibited agrypnia excitata and obstructive apnea. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 46-year-old man displayed involuntary movements during sleep time, snoring, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, cognitive deficit, brainstem symptoms, myoclonus and ataxia in order within 8 months. The electroencephalogram (EEG) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) revealed abnormal changes but without the typical prion disease signs. DIAGNOSES: After the conduction of Polysomnogram (PSG) and gene detection of PRNP, the patient was diagnosed as FFI. Three others exhibiting the same clinical manifestations were observed in the large family. INTERVENTIONS: The patient responded temporally well to drugs that strengthening the function of mitochondria. OUTCOMES: Sudden death occurred after 3 month ever since the diagnoses. The total disease course was 11 months. LESSONS: The insomnia in FFI is complex, agrypnia excitata and obstructive apnea can also be indicators for FFI. Polysomnogram is necessary for recognizing the sleep loss when the symptom of insomia is not typical. Improving energy metabolism may be a potential treatment for it.

Microstructural abnormalities in language and limbic pathways in orphanage-reared children: a diffusion tensor imaging study.

This study utilized diffusion tensor imaging fiber tractography to examine the miscrostructural integrity of limbic and paralimbic white matter tracts in 36 children (age M = 124 months) with histories of early deprivation, raised from birth in orphanages and subsequently adopted into the United States, compared to 16 age-matched typically developing children. We found increased mean diffusivity bilaterally in the arcuate fasciculus and increased mean diffusivity and reduced fractional anisotropy bilaterally in the uncinate fasciculus and cingulum in children with early deprivation. Microstructural integrity of the left arcuate fasciculus and right cingulum was related to language and behavioral functioning, respectively. White matter abnormalities were also associated with length of deprivation and time in the adoptive home. Our findings suggest that white matter pathways, connecting limbic and paralimbic brain regions is abnormal in children with histories of early deprivation, with some pathways appearing more susceptible to early deprivation than others.

Aberrant paralimbic gray matter in incarcerated male adolescents with psychopathic traits.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between brain structure and psychopathic traits in maximum-security incarcerated male adolescents, and to examine whether the associations between brain volumes in paralimbic and limbic regions and psychopathic traits observed in incarcerated adult men extend to an independent sample of incarcerated male adolescents. METHOD: A structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study of regional gray matter volumes by using voxel-based morphometry in maximum-security incarcerated male adolescents (N = 218) assessed for psychopathic traits using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version (PCL-YV). All analyses controlled for effects of age, substance use, and brain size. RESULTS: Consistent with hypotheses and the adult literature, psychopathic traits were associated with decreased regional gray matter volumes in diffuse paralimbic regions, including orbitofrontal cortex, bilateral temporal poles, and posterior cingulate cortex. CONCLUSIONS: These results strengthen the interpretation that paralimbic regions are central for understanding neural dysfunction associated with psychopathic traits and that psychopathy is best conceptualized as a neurodevelopmental disorder.

Neurodevelopmental marker for limbic maldevelopment in antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy.

BACKGROUND: Antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy have been hypothesised to have a neurodevelopmental basis, but this proposition has not been formally tested. AIMS: This study tests the hypothesis that individuals with cavum septum pellucidum (CSP), a marker of limbic neural maldevelopment, will show higher levels of psychopathy and antisocial personality. METHOD: Cavum septum pellucidum was assessed using anatomical magnetic resonance imaging in a community sample. Those with CSP (n = 19) were compared with those lacking CSP (n = 68) on antisocial personality, psychopathy and criminal offending. RESULTS: Those with CSP had significantly higher levels of antisocial personality, psychopathy, arrests and convictions compared with controls. The pervasiveness of this association was indicated by the fact that those lacking a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, but who were charged or convicted for an offence, had a more extensive CSP than non-antisocial controls. Results could not be attributed to prior trauma exposure, head injury, demographic factors or comorbid psychiatric conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings appear to be the first to provide evidence for a neurodevelopmental brain abnormality in those with antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy, and support the hypothesis that early maldevelopment of limbic and septal structures predisposes to the spectrum of antisocial behaviours.

Limbic and corpus callosum aberrations in adolescents with bipolar disorder: a tract-based spatial statistics analysis.

BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common and debilitating condition, often beginning in adolescence. Converging evidence from genetic and neuroimaging studies indicates that white matter abnormalities may be involved in BD. In this study, we investigated white matter structure in adolescents with familial bipolar disorder using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and a whole brain analysis. METHODS: We analyzed DTI images using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS), a whole-brain voxel-by-voxel analysis, to investigate white matter structure in 21 adolescents with BD, who also were offspring of at least one parent with BD, and 18 age- and IQ-matched control subjects. Fractional anisotropy (FA; a measure of diffusion anisotropy), trace values (average diffusivity), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC; a measure of overall diffusivity) were used as variables in this analysis. In a post hoc analysis, we correlated between FA values, behavioral measures, and medication exposure. RESULTS: Adolescents with BD had lower FA values than control subjects in the fornix, the left mid-posterior cingulate gyrus, throughout the corpus callosum, in fibers extending from the fornix to the thalamus, and in parietal and occipital corona radiata bilaterally. There were no significant between-group differences in trace or ADC values and no significant correlation between behavioral measures, medication exposure, and FA values. CONCLUSIONS: Significant white matter tract alterations in adolescents with BD were observed in regions involved in emotional, behavioral, and cognitive regulation. These results suggest that alterations in white matter are present early in the course of disease in familial BD.

Limbic tract anomalies in pediatric myelomeningocele and Chiari II malformation: anatomic correlations with memory and learning--initial investigation.

PURPOSE: To prospectively determine anomalies of limbic tracts and to describe the relationship between these anomalies, seen on diffusion-tensor magnetic resonance (MR) and fiber tract (FT) reconstruction images, and learning and memory in children with myelomeningocele (MM) and Chiari II malformation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The investigation was HIPAA compliant and approved by institutional review boards; informed consent was obtained. In seven male and six female patients (aged 6 months to 16 years) with MM and Chiari II malformation, diffusion-tensor imaging and FT reconstruction were performed. FT reconstruction was generated with fractional anisotropy continuous tracking algorithm and manually drawn regions of interest. Limbic tract abnormalities were assessed on FT reconstruction images by an experienced pediatric neuroradiologist blinded to results of cognitive testing. Nine patients met criteria for memory and learning testing by a trained cognitive neuroscientist blinded to MR results. Exact Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to compare performance with learning and memory tasks in two groups. RESULTS: Eleven of 13 patients had defects within fornices and/or cingulum; three patients had aberrant fibers of cingulum. In nine patients, six had deficits in general memory; four, in learning; and four, in both. Atresia or hypoplasia of crura and body of fornices was noted in six patients with memory deficits and four patients with learning deficits. Five of six patients with memory deficits and three of four with learning deficits had hypoplasia or atresia of cingulum. Exact Wilcoxon rank sum test demonstrated significantly poorer performance for nonverbal immediate recall tasks in patients with anomalies of the fornix compared with those without (P = .04, exact two-tailed test). CONCLUSION: Diffusion-tensor and FT reconstruction images revealed that limbic fiber abnormalities were common in patients with MM and Chiari II malformation. Nonverbal immediate recall task performance appeared to be related to abnormalities of the fornix.

Fronto-limbic brain abnormalities in juvenile onset bipolar disorder.

BACKGROUND: Advances in brain imaging techniques and cognitive neuropsychology have brought new possibilities for the in vivo study of the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder (BD). Recently, such studies have been extended to the pediatric age range. Here we review the neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies conducted in BD children and adolescents. METHODS: A review of the peer-reviewed published literature was conducted in Medline for the period of 1966 to April 2005. RESULTS: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies suggest abnormalities in fronto-limbic structures in pediatric BD patients, similar to those found in adults. A notable exception in pediatric BD patients is smaller amygdala volumes compared to healthy controls, contrary to what has been reported in most adult studies. CONCLUSIONS: Further research evaluating children and adolescents is needed to study the normal neurodevelopmental process and to answer how and when the illness processes that result in bipolar disorder exert their effects on the developing brain.

Olfactory functions and volumetric measures of orbitofrontal and limbic regions in schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: Olfactory deficits in schizophrenia patients have been suggested to reflect medial temporal and/or prefrontal brain abnormalities. In this study, we examined the relationship between different olfactory functions and volumes of the hippocampus-amygdala complex (HAC) and the orbitofrontal brain region using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: Thirty-three young men with schizophrenia (DSM-IV) and 40 healthy controls performed unirhinal olfactory assessment including the main olfactory functions (threshold, discrimination, and identification), and odor judgements (intensity, edibility, familiarity, and pleasantness). Volumes of regions in the medial temporal lobe (hippocampus and amygdala) and the prefrontal region (orbitofrontal gray and white matter) were measured on MRI scans. RESULTS: Compared with controls, patients showed bilaterally impaired thresholds, quality discrimination and identification, as well as edibility judgements. Olfactory deficits were not attributable to smoking, premorbid intelligence, or impaired thresholds. Relative to controls, patients had bilateral reduced hippocampus and amygdala volumes. In patients, smaller hippocampus volumes were associated with poorer olfactory discrimination ability. CONCLUSIONS: Olfactory deficits in schizophrenia appear to be associated with morphometric abnormalities in the medial temporal rather than the orbitofrontal region (OFR). These results indicate that olfactory quality discrimination deficits are related to structural hippocampus abnormalities. Future studies of genetic and behavioral high-risk samples seem warranted.

Temporal pole morphology and psychopathology in males with schizophrenia.

A dysfunction of the paralimbic system has been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The temporal pole (TP) is a relevant component of the paralimbic circuit. Functional and structural imaging studies have shown circumscribed abnormalities in the TP. Subjects were 30 controls and 30 schizophrenia patients. Cortical surface size and gray matter volume of the TP were accurately measured to explore the morphology of the TP cortex and the relationship of TP measures to clinical variables in patients with schizophrenia. Correlations between structural measures and clinical dimensions, duration of illness, and cumulative neuroleptic exposure were determined. Neither macroscopic abnormalities in the TP nor differences in the pattern of asymmetry were demonstrated. The TP volume was correlated negatively to the psychotic and disorganized dimension scores. No other significant correlations were found. No morphological abnormalities in the TP were found in patients with schizophrenia. Interestingly, a reduction in the TP volume, a higher-order multimodal association cortex, was associated with the severity of disorganized and psychotic symptoms.

Developmental roles of p73 in Cajal-Retzius cells and cortical patterning.

To examine the role of the p53 homolog p73 in brain development, we studied p73-/-, p73+/-, E2F1-/-, and reeler mutant mice. p73 in developing brain is expressed in Cajal-Retzius (CR) cells, the cortical hem, and the choroid plexus. p73-expressing CR cells are lost in p73-/- embryos, although Reelin is faintly expressed in the marginal zone. Ectopic neurons in the p73-/- preplate and cortical hem at embryonic day 12 implicate p73 in the early developmental program of the cortex; however, preplate partition and early cortical plate formation are not disturbed. Postnatal p73-/- mice show a mild hypoplasia of the rostral cortex and a severely disrupted architecture of the posterior telencephalon. In the developing p73-/- hippocampus, the most striking abnormality is the absence of the hippocampal fissure, suggesting a role of p73 in cortical folding. p73+/- mice have a less severe cortical phenotype; they display a dorsal shift of the entorhinal cortex and a reduced size of occipital and posterior temporal areas, which acquire entorhinal-like features such as Reelin-positive cells in layer II. CR cells appear unaffected by heterozygosity. We relate the malformations of the posterior pole in p73 mutant mice to alterations of p73 expression in the cortical hem and suggest that p73 forms part of an early signaling network that controls neocortical and archicortical regionalization. In mice deficient for the transcription factor E2F1, a main activator of the TAp73 (transactivating p73) isoform, we find a defect of the caudal cortical architecture resembling the p73+/- phenotype along with reduced TAp73 protein levels and propose that an E2F1-TAp73 dependent pathway is involved in cortical patterning.

Cavum septi pellucidi in first-episode schizophrenia and first-episode affective psychosis: an MRI study.

A high prevalence of abnormal cavum septi pellucidi (CSP) in schizophrenia may reflect neurodevelopmental abnormalities in midline structures of the brain. The relationship, however, between abnormal CSP and clinical symptoms, and with abnormalities in other limbic structures remains unclear, as does the question of whether a similar abnormality is present in affective psychosis. Seventy-four patients at their first hospitalization, 33 with schizophrenia and 41 with affective (mainly manic) psychosis, and 56 healthy control subjects underwent high-spatial-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). CSP on six slices or more on 0.9375-mm resampled coronal images was categorized as abnormal. The prevalence of abnormal CSP in both schizophrenic patients (26.1%) and affective psychosis patients (18.2%) was significantly higher than was observed in control subjects (8.2%). In schizophrenic patients only, larger CSP was significantly associated with more severe thinking disturbance and smaller left parahippocampal gyrus gray matter volumes. While the relationships between CSP ratings and clinical symptoms did not significantly differ between the two psychosis groups as assessed by the comparison of regression slopes, the association with limbic volumes appeared to be specific to schizophrenic patients. These results suggest that psychosis associated with schizophrenia and affective disorder share, at least to some extent, neurodevelopmental abnormalities involving midline structures and associated psychopathological consequences. However, the association between abnormal CSP and limbic systems may be more specific to schizophrenia.

Differences and similarities in insular and temporal pole MRI gray matter volume abnormalities in first-episode schizophrenia and affective psychosis.

CONTEXT: Whether psychoses associated with schizophrenia and affective disorder represent manifestations of different disorders or the same disorder is an important but unresolved question in psychiatry. Results of previous volumetric magnetic resonance imaging investigations indicate that gray matter volume reductions in neocortical regions may be specific to schizophrenia. OBJECTIVE: To simultaneously evaluate multiple olfactocentric paralimbic regions, which play crucial roles in human emotion and motivation, in first-episode patients with schizophrenia and affective psychosis. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study using high-spatial resolution magnetic resonance imaging in patients with schizophrenia and affective psychosis at their first hospitalization. SETTING: Inpatient units at a private psychiatric hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-three first-episode patients, 27 with schizophrenia and 26 with affective (mainly manic) psychosis, and 29 control subjects. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Using high-spatial resolution magnetic resonance imaging, the gray matter volumes of 2 olfactocentric paralimbic regions of interest, the insular cortex and the temporal pole, were evaluated. RESULTS: A bilateral volume reduction in insular cortex gray matter was specific to first-episode patients with schizophrenia. In contrast, both first-episode psychosis groups showed a volume reduction in left temporal pole gray matter and an absence of normal left-greater-than-right asymmetry. Region of interest correlations showed that only patients with schizophrenia lacked a positive correlation between left temporal pole and left anterior amygdala-hippocampal complex gray matter volumes, whereas both psychosis groups were similar in lacking normal positive correlations between left temporal pole and left anterior superior temporal gyrus gray matter volumes. CONCLUSIONS: These partially different and partially similar patterns of structural abnormalities in olfactocentric paralimbic regions and their associated abnormalities in other temporolimbic regions may be important factors in the differential and common manifestations of the 2 psychoses.

Miswiring of limbic thalamocortical projections in the absence of ephrin-A5.

Axon guidance cues of the ephrin ligand family have been hypothesized to regulate the formation of thalamocortical connections, but in vivo evidence for such a role has not been examined directly. To test whether ephrin-mediated repulsive cues participate in sorting the projections originating from distinct thalamic nuclei, we analyzed the organization of somatosensory and anterior cingulate afferents postnatally in mice lacking ephrin-A5 gene expression. Projections from ventrobasal and laterodorsal nuclei to their respective sensory and limbic cortical areas developed normally. However, a portion of limbic thalamic neurons from the laterodorsal nucleus also formed additional projections to somatosensory cortical territories, thus maintaining inappropriate dual projections to multiple cortical regions. These results suggest that ephrin-A5 is not required for the formation of normal cortical projections from the appropriate thalamic nuclei, but rather acts as a guidance cue that restricts limbic thalamic axons from inappropriate neocortical regions.

Limbic abnormalities in affective processing by criminal psychopaths as revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging.

BACKGROUND: Psychopathy is a complex personality disorder of unknown etiology. Central to the disorder are anomalies or difficulties in affective processing. METHODS: Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to elucidate the neurobiological correlates of these anomalies in criminal psychopaths during performance of an affective memory task. RESULTS: Compared with criminal nonpsychopaths and noncriminal control participants, criminal psychopaths showed significantly less affect-related activity in the amygdala/hippocampal formation, parahippocampal gyrus, ventral striatum, and in the anterior and posterior cingulate gyri. Psychopathic criminals also showed evidence of overactivation in the bilateral fronto-temporal cortex for processing affective stimuli. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the affective abnormalities so often observed in psychopathic offenders may be linked to deficient or weakened input from limbic structures.

Widespread anatomical abnormalities of grey and white matter structure in tuberous sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Neuroimaging studies of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) have previously focused mainly on tubers or subependymal nodules. Subtle pathological changes in the structure of the brain have not been studied in detail. Computationally intensive techniques for reliable morphometry of brain structure are useful in disorders like TSC, where there is little prior data to guide selection of regions of interest. METHODS: Dual-echo, fast spin-echo MRI data were acquired from 10 TSC patients of normal intelligence and eight age-matched controls. Between-group differences in grey matter, white matter and cerebrospinal fluid were estimated at each intracerebral voxel after registration of these images in standard space; a permutation test based on spatial statistics was used for inference. CSF-attenuated FLAIR images were acquired for neuroradiological rating of tuber number. RESULTS: Significant deficits were found in patients, relative to comparison subjects, of grey matter volume bilaterally in the medial temporal lobes, posterior cingulate gyrus, thalamus and basal ganglia, and unilaterally in right fronto-parietal cortex (patients -20%). We also found significant and approximately symmetrical deficits of central white matter involving the longitudinal fasciculi and other major intrahemispheric tracts (patients -21%); and a bilateral cerebellar region of relative white matter excess (patients +28%). Within the patient group, grey matter volume in limbic and subcortical regions of deficit was negatively correlated with tuber count. CONCLUSIONS: Neuropathological changes associated with TSC may be more extensive than hitherto suspected, involving radiologically normal parenchymal structures as well as tubers, although these two aspects of the disorder may be correlated.

Interruptions of early cortical development affect limbic association areas and social behaviour in rats; possible relevance for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Deficits in social behaviour are found in several neuropsychiatric disorders with a presumed developmental origin. Adequate social behaviour may rely importantly on the associative integration of new stimuli with previously stored, related information. The limbic allocortex, in particular the entorhinal region, is thought to support this kind of processing. Therefore, in the present study, gestating dams were treated with methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) on one of gestational days nine to twelve, to interrupt neuronal proliferation in the entorhinal region of the developing foetuses. Effects of prenatal MAM administration on social behaviour were evaluated in adult animals. As the entorhinal cortex has been implicated by some studies in spatial memory, effects on this function were also investigated. Following the behavioural studies, brain morphology was screened for effects of MAM. Our results show moderate to severe social impairment in MAM-treated animals, depending on the exact timing of prenatal exposure. By contrast, spatial reference and working memory were not importantly affected in any group. Analysis of brain morphology in the MAM-treated offspring supported maldevelopment of the entorhinal cortex and revealed mild abnormalities also in some connected limbic and limbic affiliated structures, such as the perirhinal and ectorhinal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex and the medial septum-diagonal band region. Findings are discussed with respect to entorhinal cortex function, and with regard to their relevance for psychiatric disorders with a putatively neurodevelopmental pathogenesis, such as schizophrenia.