Cingulate Gyrus and Schizophrenia
Using a three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging procedure to measure the volume of the rostral anterior cingulate gyrus (perigenual cingulate gyrus) Takahashi et al. (2003) found that the rostral anterior cingulate gyrus is larger in control – healthy – females than males, but this sex difference was not found in schizophrenic patients. Schizophrenic patients also had a smaller volume of perigenual cingulate gyrus than control subjects. Haznedar et al. (2004) studied metabolic rate of glucose in anterior and posterior cingulate gyrus in patients with schizophrenia, schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) and compared them with a control group. The metabolic rate of glucose was found to be lower in the left anterior cingulate gyrus and the right posterior cingulate gyrus in patients with schizophrenia relative to controls. Although SPD patients were expected to show a glucose metabolic rate somewhere between the schizophrenic and controls, they actually had higher metabolic glucose rate in the left posterior cingulate gyrus ( Haznedar et al, 2004). The volume of the left anterior cingulate gyrus was reduced in schizophrenic patients as compared with controls, but there was not any difference between SPD patients and schizophrenic patients. From these results it appears that the schizophrenia and SPD are two different disorders. A study of the volume of the gray and white matter in the anterior cingulate gyrus in patients with schizophrenia and their healthy first and second degree relatives revealed no significant difference in the volume of the white matter in the schizophrenic patients and their healthy relatives (Costain et al, 2010). Nonetheless a significant difference in the volume of gray matter was detected, schizophrenic patients had smaller volume of gray matter than their second degree relatives, but not relative to their first degree relatives. Both schizophrenic and their first degree healthy relatives have smaller gray matter volume than the second degree healthy relatives. It appears that genes are responsible for the decreased volume of gray matter in schizophrenic patients (Costain et al, 2010). Fujiwara et al. (2007) did an experiment in which they correlated the size of anterior cingulate gyrus in schizophrenic patients with their functioning on social cognition, psychopathology and emotions with control group. The smaller the size of anterior cingulate gyrus, the lower was the level of social functioning and the higher was the psychopathology in schizophrenic patient. The anterior cingulate gyrus was found to be bilaterally smaller in patients with schizophrenia as compared with control group. No difference in IQ tests and basic visuoperceptual ability with facial stimuli was found between schizophrenia patients and the control.
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