환청이 있는 조현병 환자에서 백질 미세구조 변이: 확산텐서영상 연구

White Matter Microstructure Alterations in Schizophrenia With Auditory Verbal Hallucination: Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

Objectives To compare the white matter microstructure alterations in schizophrenia with audi-tory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) with normal persons using diffusion tensor imaging. Methods Thirty-five schizophrenia patients with AVHs and 33 normal control persons were re-cruited from the National Forensic Hospital in Korea. The fractional anisotropy (FA) values of ar-cuate fasciculus (AF), Broca’s area, and Wernicke’s area were estimated from the diffusion tensor imaging data of each subject using the Johns Hopkins University-white matter tractography atlas to determine the difference in white matter integrity between schizophrenia patients with AVH and normal persons. Results Compared to the normal control group, the FA values of AF (t=4.349, p<0.001) were higher in the normal control group. On the other hand, there were no significant differences in Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area. Conclusion Microstructural changes of AF are certainly involved in schizophrenia patients with AVHs.