Schizophrenia is characterized by lowered efficiency in modular and distributed information processing. This is indicated by research that identified a disrupted small-world functional network in schizophrenia. However, whether the dysconnection manifested by the disrupted small-world functional network is reflected in underlying anatomical disruption in schizophrenia remains unresolved. This study examined the topological properties of human brain anatomical networks derived from diffusion tensor imaging in patients with schizophrenia and in healthy controls. We constructed the weighted brain anatomical network for each of 79 schizophrenia patients and for 96 age and gender matched healthy subjects using diffusion tensor tractography and calculated the topological properties of the networks using a graph theoretical method. Anatomical networks in both groups presented “small-world” property. However, the topological properties of patients’ anatomical networks were altered in that, global efficiency decreased but local efficiency remained unchanged. The deleterious effects of schizophrenia on network performance appear to be localized as reduced regional efficiency of hubs, such as right middle frontal gyrus; bilateral inferior frontal gyrus, triangular part; right middle frontal gyrus, orbital part; left olfactory cortex; right insula; left lenticular nucleus, pallidum and left putamen. Additionally, scores on the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) correlated negatively with efficient network properties in schizophrenia, that is, the more serious of the clinical symptom, the lower the efficiency properties are. This is the first research utilized weighted anatomical network to study the abnormality of white matter connection in schizophrenia. The findings suggest that complex brain network analysis may potentially be used to detect an imaging biomarker for schizophrenia. Medical imaging is a multi-disciplinary field，which relates to the subjects of digital image processing, computer graphics and some related knowledge of medicine. This article introduced an DTI data processing software named DTI Tracking, and brain anatomical network topology analyze software named MRI Network Property Statistics System, both these software were designed and developed by the author of this article. DTI Tracking software implemented several classic algorithms in diffusion MRI, such as tensor model reconstruction, diffusion attributes calculation, the deter...
修改评论