1. Apathy Is Associated With Ventral Striatum Volume in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder.
- Author
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Roth RM, Garlinghouse MA, Flashman LA, Koven NS, Pendergrass JC, Ford JC, McAllister TW, and Saykin AJ
- Subjects
- Adult, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Apathy physiology, Schizophrenia diagnostic imaging, Schizophrenia physiopathology, Ventral Striatum diagnostic imaging
- Abstract
Apathy is prevalent in schizophrenia, but its etiology has received little investigation. The ventral striatum (VS), a key brain region involved in motivated behavior, has been implicated in studies of apathy. We therefore evaluated whether apathy is associated with volume of the VS on MRI in 23 patients with schizophrenia using voxel-based morphometry. Results indicated that greater self-reported apathy severity was associated with smaller volume of the right VS even when controlling for age, gender, depression, and total gray matter volume. The finding suggests that apathy is related to abnormality of brain circuitry subserving motivated behavior in patients with schizophrenia.
- Published
- 2016
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