Skip to main content
Log in

Increased density of entorhinal glutamate-immunoreactive vertical fibers in schizophrenia

  • Short Communication
  • Biological Psychiatry
  • Published:
Journal of Neural Transmission Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Gluatamtergic fibers have been immunocytochemically localized in the entorhinal cortex of postmortem schizophrenic brains. The density of small caliber vertical fibers was higher in schizophrenics than controls, with no significant increase in the number of large caliber fibers. Increased glutamatergic fiber density has been previously reported in the cingulate cortex. It is proposed that increases in glutamatergic fibers from the amygdala may be responsible for these changes and that they may play a central role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

References

  • Amaral DG, Price JL, Pitkänen A, Carmichael ST (1992) Anatomical organization of the primate amygdaloid cortex. In: Aggleton JP (ed) The amygdala: neurobiological aspects of emotion, memory, and mental dysfunction. Wiley-Liss, New York, pp 1–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold SE, Hyman BT, Van Hoesen GW, Damasio AR (1991) Some cytoarchitectural abnormalities of the entorhinal cortex in schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 48(7): 625–632

    Google Scholar 

  • Beall MJ, Lewis DA (1992) Heterogeneity of layer II neurons in human entorhinal cortex. J Comp Neurol 321(2): 241–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Benes FM, Davidson J, Bird ED (1986) Quantitative cytoarchitectural studies of the cerebral cortex of schizophrenics. Arch Gen Psychiatry 43(1): 31–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Benes FM, Majocha R, Bird ED, Marrotta CA (1987) Increased vertical axon numbers in cingulate cortex of schizophrenics. Arch Gen Psychiatry 44: 1017–1021

    Google Scholar 

  • Benes F, Sorensen I, Vincent SL, Bird ED, Sathi M (1992) Increased density of glutamate-immunoreactive vertical processes in superficial laminae in cingulate cortex of schizophrenic brain. Cerebral Cortex 2: 503–512

    Google Scholar 

  • Bogerts B (1993) Recent advances in the neuropathology of schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 19(2): 431–445

    Google Scholar 

  • Bogerts B, Meertz E, Schonfeldt-Bausch R (1985) Basal ganglia and limbic system pathology in schizophrenia. A morphometric study of brain volume and shrinkage. Arch Gen Psychiatry 42(8): 784–791

    Google Scholar 

  • Falkai P, Bogerts B (1986) Cell loss in the hippocampus of schizophrenics. Eur Arch Psychiatry Neurol Sci 236(3): 154–161

    Google Scholar 

  • Jakob H, Beckmann H (1986) Prenatal developmental disturbances in the limbic allocortex in schizophrenics. J Neural Transm 65: 303–326

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim JS, Kornhuber W, Schmid-Burgk W, Holzmüller B (1980) Low cerebrospinal fluid glutamate in schizophrenic patients and a new hypothesis on schizophrenia. Neurosci Lett 20: 379–382

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald AJ, Beitz AJ, Larson AA, Kuriyama R, Sellitto C, Madl JE (1989) Co-localization of glutamate and tubulin in putative excitatory neurons of the hippocampus and amygdala: an immunohistochemical study using monoclonal antibodies. Neuroscience 30: 405–421

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds GP (1983) Increased concentrations and lateral asymmetry of amygdala dopamine in schizophrenia. Nature 305: 527–529

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Hoesen GW, Morecraft RJ, Vogt BA (1993) Connections of the monkey cingulate cortex. In: Vogt B, Gabriel M (eds) Neurobiology of cingulate cortex and limbic thalamus. Birkhäuser, Boston, pp 249–284

    Google Scholar 

  • Vonsattel JPG, Aizawa H, Ge P, DiFiglia M, McKee AC, MacDonald M, Gusella JF, Landwehrmeyer GB, Bird ED, Richardson EP, Hedley-Whyte ET (1995) An improved approach to prepare human brains for research. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 54(1): 42–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Witter MP (1993) Organization of the entorhinal-hippocampal system: a review of the current anatomical data. Hippocampus 3 (Special Issue): 33–44

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Longson, D., Deakin, J.F.W. & Benes, F.M. Increased density of entorhinal glutamate-immunoreactive vertical fibers in schizophrenia. J. Neural Transmission 103, 503–507 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01276423

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01276423

Keywords

Navigation