Cerebral asymmetry in patients with schizophrenia: a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the differences in gray- and white-matter asymmetry between schizophrenia patients and normal subjects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-eight right-handed patients with chronic schizophrenia (24 males and 24 females) and 48 right-handed age- and sex-matched healthy controls (24 males and 24 females) were included in this study. The effects of diagnosis on gray-matter volume asymmetry and white-matter fractional anisotropy (FA) asymmetry were evaluated with use of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and voxel-based analysis of FA maps derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), respectively.

RESULTS: The mean gray- and white-matter volumes were significantly smaller in the schizophrenia group than in the control group. The voxel-based morphometry (VBM) showed no significant effect of diagnosis on gray-matter volume asymmetry. The voxel-based analysis of DTI also showed no significant effect of diagnosis on white-matter FA asymmetry.

CONCLUSION: Our results of voxel-based analyses showed no significant differences in either gray-matter volume asymmetry or white-matter FA asymmetry between schizophrenia patients and normal subjects.