The subgenual cingulate gyrus exhibits lower rates of bifurcation in schizophrenia than in controls, bipolar disorder and depression

Matthew R. Williams, Ronald K. B. Pearce, Steven R. Hirsch, Olaf Ansorge, Maria Thom, Michael Maier

Department of Neuropathology, The Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, UK.
Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, UK.
King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London, UK.
Neuropathology Unit, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Neuroscience & Mental Health, Imperial College London, Charing Cross Hospital, London, UK.
Trust HQ, West London Mental Health NHS Trust, Middlesex, UK.

DOI: 10.4236/ojpsych.2012.24034                

Abstract

The subgenual cingulate cortex has been found to be different in structure and function in mood and affective disorders compared to healthy individuals. Imaging studies have shown a decrease in function of the subgenual region in bipolar disorder and depression, with overall glial number shown to be decreased in these disorders. Decreases in subgenual grey matter in SZ have been observed also. In this neuropathological study upon formalin-fixed coronal brain sections we describe the morphological finding of de- creased frequency of subgenual cingulate crown bifurcation (p = 0.02) as compared to control, bipolar and depression cases. This suggests that the cingulate cortex in schizophrenia may be morphologically distinct in utero formation, potentially enabling an early identification of high-risk individuals.

Keywords

Neuropathology; Schizophrenia; Cortical; Flattening

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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