Year: 2003
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Behavioural and anatomical studies in schizophrenia have pointed to cerebellar involvement. AIMS: To provide stereological estimations of volumes and cell number in the cerebella of people with schizophrenia and a control group using post-mortem material. METHOD: Stereological methods were applied to cerebella taken from eight male patients with a DSM-III diagnosis of chronic schizophrenia with no neurological disorder (mean age 57.5 years) and ten male controls (mean age 56.2 years). The Cavalieri principle was used to provide estimates of volumes, the optical disector method to obtain estimates of the numerical density of Purkinje and granule cells, and a combination of the two to obtain estimates of total cell numbers in the cerebellum. The rotator method was applied to obtain estimates of mean Purkinje cell volume. RESULTS: No global structural difference in major volumes, cell numbers of Purkinje cell volume was found between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The most frequently reported pathological finding in the cerebellum in schizophrenia is vermal atrophy, which was not found in this small group of heavily affected patients.
Authors: Birgitte Bo Andersen, Bente Pakkenberg
Institutions: Aarhus University, Bispebjerg Hospital
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: Hertz Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W2037846475