JPBS

Objective To investigate the gray matter alterations in treatment-refractory schizophrenia (TRS) patients and to explore the correlations between gray matter alterations and clinical characteristics in these patients. Methods Voxel based morphometry (VBM) in conjunction with statistical parametric mapping on the structural magnetic resonance images of TRS patients (n=24) and healthy controls (n=21) was performed to assess differences between the two groups in gray matter volume(GMV). Results We found GMV decreased in the left olfactory, bilateral insula and right anterior cingulate of TRS patients compared to healthy controls (p<0.05, FWE corrected). However, we did not find any correlation between gray matter reduction and clinical characteristics in these patients. Conclusion TRS patients have GMV decreased in the left olfactory, bilateral insula and right anterior cingulate.

treatment-refractory schizophrenia; gray matter volume; voxel based morphometry (VBM)