You are seeing this message because your Web browser does not support basic Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.


ABOUT ARCHIVES
Advanced Search

Welcome   | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In


  Vol. 64 No. 3, March 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  Archives
  •  Online Features
  Original Article
 This Article
 •Full text
 •PDF
 • Reply to article
 •Send to a friend
 • Save in My Folder
 •Save to citation manager
 •Permissions
 Citing Articles
 •Citation map
 •Citing articles on HighWire
 •Citing articles on Web of Science (39)
 •Contact me when this article is cited
 Related Content
 •Related letter
 •Related article
 •Similar articles in this journal
 Topic Collections
 •Schizophrenia
 •Evidence-Based Medicine
 •Genetics
 •Genetic Disorders
 •Alert me on articles by topic
 Social Bookmarking
  Add to CiteULike Add to Connotea Add to Del.icio.us Add to Digg Add to Reddit Add to Technorati Add to Twitter What's this?

Brain Volumes in Relatives of Patients With Schizophrenia

A Meta-analysis

Heleen B. M. Boos, MS; André Aleman, PhD; Wiepke Cahn, MD, PhD; Hilleke Hulshoff Pol, PhD; René S. Kahn, MD, PhD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007;64(3):297-304.

Context  Smaller brain volumes have consistently been found in patients with schizophrenia, particularly in gray matter and medial temporal lobe structures. Although several studies have investigated brain volumes in nonpsychotic relatives of patients with schizophrenia, results have been inconsistent.

Objective  To determine the magnitude and extent of brain volume differences in first-degree relatives of schizophrenic patients.

Data Sources  A systematic search was conducted to identify relevant studies. Computer searches of the MEDLINE database were performed for English-language articles published before July 2005. Relevant abstracts published in 2005 were also selected.

Study Selection  Magnetic resonance imaging studies that examined differences in brain volumes between first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia and healthy control subjects were obtained through computerized databases, including MEDLINE. Studies had to report sufficient data for computation of effect sizes.

Data Extraction  For each study, the Cohen d was calculated. Data extraction and calculation of the effect size were performed by 2 authors (H.B.M.B. and A.A.) who reached a consensus in cases of uncertainty and discrepancies. All analyses were performed using the random-effects model.

Data Synthesis  Twenty-five studies were identified as suitable for analysis and included 1065 independent first-degree relatives of patients, 679 patients with schizophrenia, and 1100 healthy control subjects. The largest difference between relatives and healthy control subjects was found in hippocampal volume, with relatives having smaller volumes than controls (d = 0.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.13-0.49; 9 effect sizes). Gray matter was smaller (d = 0.18; 95% CI, 0.02-0.33; 7 effect sizes) and third-ventricle volume was larger (d = 0.21; 95% CI, 0.03-0.40; 7 effect sizes) in relatives compared with healthy control subjects.

Conclusion  Brain abnormalities are present in nonpsychotic first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia and are most pronounced in the hippocampus.


Author Affiliations: Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht (Ms Boos and Drs Cahn, Hulshoff Pol, and Kahn), and BCN NeuroImaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen (Dr Aleman), the Netherlands.



Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter     What's this?

RELATED LETTER

Meta-analysis of Brain Volumes in Unaffected First-Degree Relatives of Patients With Schizophrenia Overemphasizes Hippocampal Deficits—Reply
Heleen B. M. Boos, André Aleman, Wiepke Cahn, Hilleke Hulshoff Pol, and René S. Kahn
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(5):604-605.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

RELATED ARTICLE

Meta-analysis of Brain Volumes in Unaffected First-Degree Relatives of Patients With Schizophrenia Overemphasizes Hippocampal Deficits
Colm McDonald, Brendan Dineen, and Brian Hallahan
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(5):603-604.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Imaging Genetic Liability to Schizophrenia: Systematic Review of fMRI Studies of Patients' Nonpsychotic Relatives
MacDonald et al.
Schizophr Bull 2009;35:1142-1162.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Widespread Reductions of Cortical Thickness in Schizophrenia and Spectrum Disorders and Evidence of Heritability
Goldman et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2009;66:467-477.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Dopamine Hypothesis of Schizophrenia: Version III--The Final Common Pathway
Howes and Kapur
Schizophr Bull 2009;35:549-562.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

What We Know: Findings That Every Theory of Schizophrenia Should Explain
MacDonald and Schulz
Schizophr Bull 2009;35:493-508.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Systemic Hypotheses for Generalized Cognitive Deficits in Schizophrenia: A New Take on An Old Problem
Dickinson and Harvey
Schizophr Bull 2009;35:403-414.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Hyperactivity and hyperconnectivity of the default network in schizophrenia and in first-degree relatives of persons with schizophrenia
Whitfield-Gabrieli et al.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2009;106:1279-1284.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Heritability of Changes in Brain Volume Over Time in Twin Pairs Discordant for Schizophrenia
Brans et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2008;65:1259-1268.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Gene-Environment Interactions in Schizophrenia: Review of Epidemiological Findings and Future Directions
van Os et al.
Schizophr Bull 2008;34:1066-1082.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Longitudinal MRI study in schizophrenia patients and their healthy siblings
Brans et al.
Br. J. Psychiatry 2008;193:422-423.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Emotion Processing in Persons at Risk for Schizophrenia
Phillips and Seidman
Schizophr Bull 2008;34:888-903.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Structural Cerebral Variations as Useful Endophenotypes in Schizophrenia: Do They Help Construct "Extended Endophenotypes"?
Prasad and Keshavan
Schizophr Bull 2008;34:774-790.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Meta-analysis of Brain Volumes in Unaffected First-Degree Relatives of Patients With Schizophrenia Overemphasizes Hippocampal Deficits
McDonald et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2008;65:603-604.
FULL TEXT  

What Happens After the First Episode? A Review of Progressive Brain Changes in Chronically Ill Patients With Schizophrenia
Hulshoff Pol and Kahn
Schizophr Bull 2008;34:354-366.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Thalamic Shape Abnormalities in Individuals with Schizophrenia and Their Nonpsychotic Siblings
Harms et al.
J. Neurosci. 2007;27:13835-13842.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Cortical Brain Development in Nonpsychotic Siblings of Patients With Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia
Gogtay et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2007;64:772-780.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  





HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | SUBMIT | SUBSCRIBE | HELP
CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
 
© 2007 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.