Brain Impairment in Chronic Schizophrenia Patients with Depressive Symptoms Differs from Brain Impairment in Chronic Depression Patients with Psychotic Symptoms

Numerous studies have identified many specific structural alterations in the brains of patients with schizophrenia and depression. Schizophrenia is associated with gray matter volume (GMV) impairment in certain key brain regions, which progresses in the first 2–3 years after the first episode of schizophrenic symptoms.[1] Schizophrenia has also been shown to be associated with concurrent white matter (WM) alterations. The fasciculus uncinatus and arcuate fasciculus have been proposed to be a part of the quality index for schizophrenia.[2] Similar to schizophrenia, major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with a GMV reduction and aberrant WM. GMV reductions in the bilateral middle temporal gyrus left ventral medial prefrontal gyrus, left lingual gyrus, and dorsal medial prefrontal gyrus have been correlated with the severity of the depressive symptoms. Schizophrenic and depressive symptoms usually coexist in schizophrenia and MDD. In this pilot study, we compared the GMV and WM differences in the brains of chronic schizophrenia patients with depressive symptoms with those of chronic depression patients with psychotic symptoms.[1,2]