Schizophrenia Bulletin Advance Access published online on April 23, 2008
Schizophrenia Bulletin, doi:10.1093/schbul/sbn025
Anatomical Abnormalities of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Schizophrenia: Bridging the Gap Between Neuroimaging and Neuropathology
2 Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
3 ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
4 The Rebecca L Cooper Research Laboratories, The Mental Health Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
5 Departments of Pathology and Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
6 Department of Psychological Medicine, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
7 Howard Florey Institute, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed; Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Levels 2 and 3, National Neuroscience Facility, 161 Barry St, Carlton South, Vic 3053, Australia; tel: + 61-3-8344-1861, fax: + 61-3-9348-0469, email: fornitoa{at}unimelb.edu.au.
The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a functionally heterogeneous region involved in diverse cognitive and emotional processes that support goal-directed behaviour. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropathological findings over the past two decades have converged to suggest abnormalities in the region may represent a neurobiological basis for many of the clinical manifestations of schizophrenia. However, while each approach offers complimentary information that can provide clues regarding underlying patholophysiological processes, the findings from these 2 fields are seldom integrated. In this article, we review structural neuroimaging and neuropathological studies of the ACC, focusing on the unique information they provide. The available imaging data suggest grey matter reductions in the ACC precede psychosis onset in some categories of high-risk individuals, show sub-regional specificity, and may progress with illness duration. The available post-mortem findings indicate these imaging-related changes are accompanied by reductions in neuronal, synaptic, and dendritic density, as well as increased afferent input, suggesting the grey matter differences observed with MRI arise from alterations in both neuronal and non-neuronal tissue compartments. We discuss the potential mechanisms that might facilitate integration of these findings and consider strategies for future research.
Keywords: psychosis / neuron / VBM / glia / limbic / prefrontal