Structural brain abnormalities in schizophrenia patients with a history and presence of auditory verbal hallucination

Summary

A research group led by Associate Professor Shinsuke Koike, Professor Kiyoto Kasai, and Professor Osamu Abe of the University of Tokyo and Professor Hidenori Yamasue of Hamamatsu University School of Medicine has studied brain structural features associated with auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) in schizophrenia using structural brain imaging obtained from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify brain regions associated with AVH. In this study, the research group compared brain morphometries in schizophrenia patients with a history of AVH (AVH + ), without a history of AVH (AVH−), and healthy controls. With further division of AVH+ into AVH++ and AVH+−, they found significantly smaller bilateral hippocampal volumes for AVH ++.

These findings highlighted the distinct pattern of structural alteration between the history and presence of AVH in schizophrenia, and the importance of integrating multiple criteria to elucidate the neuroanatomical mechanisms.

【Information on the outcome】

https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/ja/press/z0109_00072.html　(東京大学）
https://www.amed.go.jp/news/seika/2022_seika_index.html（AMED)

 

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