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Bilaterally reduced claustral volumes in schizophrenia and major depressive disorder: a morphometric postmortem study

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Abstract

Multiple brain structural abnormalities have been reported in schizophrenia and major depressive disorder. A majority of disease-affected brain regions act as relay nodes within neural networks, which are known to be impaired in neuropsychiatric diseases. One of these regions is the claustrum, which has the highest connectivity in the human brain by regional volume. Its possible involvement in disturbed connectivity is yet incompletely explored, however. The present study aimed at searching for possible structural deviations of the claustrum in neuropsychiatric disorders. We found bilaterally reduced claustral volumes both in schizophrenia and in major depressive disorder. These structural impairments may have different, disease-related consequences: In patients with schizophrenia, they may contribute to sensory processing impairments, and in patients with major depressive disorder to disturbances in salience.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical standard

Brains were obtained in accordance with existing German and European Union regulations from the Magdeburg Brain Bank. All experimental procedures were in addition approved by the Ethical Committee of Magdeburg.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120, Magdeburg, Germany

    Hans-Gert Bernstein, Anna Ortmann, Henrik Dobrowolny, Johann Steiner & Bernhard Bogerts

  2. Institute of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland

    Ralf Brisch & Tomasz Gos

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  1. Hans-Gert Bernstein
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  2. Anna Ortmann
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  3. Henrik Dobrowolny
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  4. Johann Steiner
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  7. Bernhard Bogerts
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Correspondence to Hans-Gert Bernstein.

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Bernstein, HG., Ortmann, A., Dobrowolny, H. et al. Bilaterally reduced claustral volumes in schizophrenia and major depressive disorder: a morphometric postmortem study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 266, 25–33 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-015-0597-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-015-0597-x

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