178 Abstracts/Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 68 (1997) 155-184
bers. The absence of normal asymmetry in familial
schizophrenia and the unaffected parents suggests a neurode-
vel0pmental abnormality in the illness that could be genetic in
origin.
A simple way of measuring the progression of confirmed
Alzheimer's disease in the brain by serial temporal-lobe-ori-
ented CT scans
A.D. Smith, K.A. Jobst, M. Szatmari, N.J. Hindley
OPTIMA, University Departments of Pharmacology and Radi-
ology, Oxford, UK
Temporal-lobe-oriented X-ray CT shows that subjects with
histopathologically-confirmed Alzheimer's disease (AD) have
thinner medial temporal lobes than age-matched control sub-
jects. There is a slow age-related atrophy of the medial tem-
poral lobe in non-demented subjects and so the question
arises: is the excessive atrophy of the medial temporal lobe in
cases with AD simply an acceleration of normal aging, or is it
the consequence of a true disease process? Annual CT scans
on 47 normal elderly people and on 20 cases of histopathologi-
cally diagnosed Alzheimer's disease were done for periods up
to 5 years. In controls the mean rate of atrophy of the medial
temporal lobe was 1.5% per-year but the cognitive test score
(CAMCOG) did not change significantly. In the group with
AD the mean rate of atrophy of the medial temporal lobe was
15.1% per-year and the CAMCOG score declined by an
average of 18.8 points per year. Atrophy of the medial tem-
poral lobe in AD and the associated dementia must arise as
the result of a catastrophic event in the brain that is distinct
from accelerated normal aging.
Frontal cortical activation in a working memory task in fMRI
M. Spitzer, T. Kammer, M.E. Bellemann, F. Gyckel, G. Brix
Psychiatric Hospital Universityof Heidelberg, Germany
Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used in conjunc-
tion with a letter detection task for the study of working
memory in 16 normal subjects. In the activation task, subjects
responded by pressing a button whenever any presented letter
was the same as the second last in the sequence. In the
control condition, the subjects had to respond to a fixed letter.
Hence, the activation condition and the control condition
differed only subjectively, i.e. regarding the task demand,
whereas the stimuli and the type and frequency of response
were identical. The activation condition produced significant
activation in the dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex (Brodmann's
areas 10, 46, and 9). In contrast to experimental tasks previ-
ously used rather extensively to study the pre-frontal cortex,
the present paradigm is characterized by its simplicity, inter-
pretability, and its ties to known neurophysiology of the frontal
cortex.
Category-specific cortical activation in a picture naming task
using fMR1
M. Spitzer, U. Kischka, F. Gyckel, M.E. Bellemann, T.
Kammer, G. Brix
Psychiatric Hospital. University of Heidelherg, Germanv
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to
examine the pattern of cortical activity during a picture naming
task. Subjects (n = 11) had to covertly name either animals or
furniture items. Functional scanning was performed using a
conventional 1.5-T whole-body MRI system. Images obtained
during naming the two categories were compared using a
non-parametric test. The study revealed evidence for domain-
specific lexical regions in left and right middle and inferior
frontal as well as in superior and middle temporal areas. The
results corroborate neuropsychological data and demonstrate
directly and non-invasively in human volunteers that semantic
representations in frontal and temporal areas are, to some
degree, localized and possibly implemented as multiple maps.
A completely distributed storage of semantic information is
rendered unlikely.
Temporal limbic and frontal changes in schizophrenia: a
quantitative MRI study
A. Stockert a, J. Schr6der ~, St. Frost a, 1. Gerdssen a, L.R.
Schad b, M. Essig b, M. V. Knopp b, M. Friedlinger b
aDepa,,'tment of Psychiatry. University of Heidelberg, German),.
bDepartrnent of Radiology, German Center of Cancer Research
(DKFZ), Heidelberg. Germany
Temporal limbic changes were described in numerous post-
mortem and neuroimaging studies. However, the question
whether these changes refer to a generalized process or reflect
local changes remained unresolved. The aims of our study are:
firstly, to confirm temporal limbic changes in schizophrenia
using high-resolution quantitative MRI; and second, to inves-
tigate temporal limbic changes with respect to subcortical and
frontal changes. Up to now, 10 healthy controls and 12 DSM
IIIR schizophrenics participated in our ongoing trial. 3D MR1
sequences were acquired using a MPRAGE sequence on a
1.5T Siemens Magnetom. This sequence provides 128 contigu-
ous slices through the whole head with a thickness/gap of
1.4/0 mm in about 12 min. Whole brain volume, total in-
tracranial volume (TIV), volumes of the frontal and temporal
lobes, the amygdala-hippocampus complex (AHC), the hip-
pocampus, parahippoeampal gyrus, the caudatum and the
putamen-pallidum complex were assessed. Measurements were
performed by two independent raters (interrater reliability: r
- 0.95-0.96, P<0.0001) on a conventional 486 PC. The
volumetric data were corrected for head size by dividing the
absolute values by the TIV. Apart from the right AHC and
the parahippocampal gyri, all temporal limbic structures dif-
fered significantly ( P < 0.05) between patients and controls.
Within the schizophrenics, significant correlations were found
between the AHC and the posterior hippocampus. None of
the temporal [imbic structures was significantly correlated
with the volumes of the temporal or frontal lobe nor any of
the subcortical measures. Our preliminary findings confirm
earlier reports demonstrating temporal limbic changes in
 Abstracts / Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 68 (1997) 155-184
schizophrenia and suggest that these changes do not corre-
spond to generalized brain changes.
Brain potential imaging in depressive patients
V.B.Strelets
Serbsky Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry, Moscow,
Russia
In the study of the neurophysiological mechanisms of depres-
sion by EEG mapping, several typical changes are revealed.
These are different from normal levels of activation of the
functionally specific cortical zones, right anterior and left
posterior cortical quadrants being hyperactivated and left
frontal and right posterior ones being inhibited. This incom-
patibility in activation level of the posterior perceiving and
anterior performing cortical regions in each hemisphere re-
sults in an information processing impairment named 'trans-
versal functional blockade'. Another feature of EEG in de-
pression is the absence of the higher frequency part in the
alpha band spectrum - - this part of the band being normally
involved in generation of positive emotions. The third feature
is the difference in the alpha and beta band frequencies in
arousal reaction between the normals and depressive patients
suggesting a deficiency of the mechanism of activation in these
patients.
Specific configuration and increased variability of brain
electrical microstates in Alzheimer's disease (DAT).
W.K. Strik a, R.Chiaramonti b, Th. J. Mueller a, G.C. Muscas b,
M. Paganini b
aDepartment of Psychiatry, University Hospital Wiirzburg, Ger-
many. 6Department of Neurology I1, University Hospital Firenze,
Italy
A generalized increase of slow frequencies and a reduction of
alpha-activity prevalently in occipital regions have been de-
scribed in the EEG of DAT-patients. Brain electrical micro-
states have been investigated in 31 patients with probable
DAT (NINCDS-ADRDA) and in 24 healthy controls. Patients
bad a mean Mini Mental Score of 19.5 (14-24) and an
Hachinsky Ischemic Score < 4. EEG recordings were ob-
tained from 19 electrodes (I 0/20-system, bandpass 0.1-30 Hz,
A/D-rate 128 Hz). After space-oriented segmentation, a sig-
nificant increase in topographic variability of the microstates
was found in the patient group (t = 3.12, P < 0.005). Further-
more, a significant anteriorization of the posterior centroid in
the patient group (t = 4.44, P < 0.0001) was found. Both alter-
ations correlated significantly with the severity of cognitive
impairment. The results indicate that topographical features
of the brain electrical microstates contain relevant and speci-
fic information about the nature and severity of dementia,
MRI T2.relaxation times of brain regions in schizophrenia
and control subjects
T. Supprian a, E, Hofmann b, M. Warmuth-Metz b, E. Franzek ~,
T. Becker ~'
179
apsychiatrische Klinik und Poliklinik, Wiirzburg, Germany. bAbt.
f. Neuroradiologie, Kopfklinikum, Wiirzburg, Germany
While extensive research focused on MRI volumetric findings
in schizophrenic patients, recent investigations focused on
estimations of MRI relaxation times. T2-relaxation times of 25
male schizophrenic patients and 25 age-matched, normal male
controls were estimated in the following regions of interest
(ROI): frontal gray and white matter, temporal gray and white
matter, nucleus amygdalae, putamen, caudate nucleus, thala-
mus, fornix, anterior and posterior corpus callosum.
Schizophrenic patients (mean age 30.8 years, S.D. 8.3) were all
in-patients and received MRI scans for routine diagnosis.
Diagnostic classification was performed according to DSM-IIL
R. Controls (mean age 30.4, S.D. 8.2) were selected from a
large sample of patients from the ENT-clinic who were evalu-
ated because of hearing loss or tinnitus. No significant differ-
ences were found between the two groups in any of the ROls
except for the left fornix. We regard the difference in left
fornix as possibly artifactual. Our findings do not support
previous findings of significant differences in T2-relaxation
times of schizophrenic patients compared to normal controls.
Subtle differences in brain function contributing to the patho-
logical process in schizophrenia may not be detected by the
above structural imaging technique.
Changes of EEG-coherence during cognitive activation in
schizophrenic patients vs. healthy controls
J. Tauscher a'b, P. Rappelsberger a, A. Neumeister b, H.
Gruppe c, U. Bauer c, B. Gallhofer c, S. Kasper b
alnstitute of Neurophysiology, University of Vienna, Austria. 6De-
partment of General Psychiatry, University Hospital for Psychia-
try, Vienna, Austria. CDepartment of Psychiatry, Klinikum Justus-
Liebig Universitiit, Giessen, German)'
EEG of four schizophrenic patients and 15 healthy controls
were recorded at rest and under cognitive activation. Aver-
aged power spectra and cross-power spectra between selected
electrode pairs were computed, as well as coherence and
mean amplitudes per frequency band. Delta-amplitudes in-
creased and alpha-amplitudes decreased under cognitive load
only in the control-group. In this group coherence increased
in the theta-band parietally with a right hemispheric domi-
nance during observation of geometric figures. However.
coherence decreased in frontal regions, as it was also shown
during mental arithmetic. None of these changes were seen in
schizophrenics. During text-listening only minor changes were
found in both groups.
IBZM SPECT imaging of dopamine-2 receptors in
schizophrenic patients treated with the novel antipsychotic
substance seroquel in comparison to haloperidol
J. Tauscher a, B. Kuefferle a, S. Asenbaum h, T. 13rueckc ~, 1.
Podreka c, S. Kasper a
aDepartment of General Psychiatry, University Hospital for P.sy-
chiatry, Vienna, Austria. bDepartment of General Neurolow,