The Effects of Antipsychotics on the Integrity of Thalamic Connectivity in Schizophrenia Patients
Session Number
Q28
Advisor(s)
Anna Varentsova, Northwestern University Lei Wang, Northwestern University
Location
A-133
Start Date
28-4-2016 10:15 AM
End Date
28-4-2016 10:40 AM
Abstract
In schizophrenia, many patients take medications in order to relieve their psychotic symptoms. However, the effects of these antipsychotics on the connections within the brain are not completely understood. Many of these connections are associated with the thalamus, making it an important subcortical region to analyze when measuring connectivity throughout the brain. This study aimed to see if there was any effect of antipsychotics on the integrity of thalamic connectivity for patients with schizophrenia. For this study, diffusion weighted images from 22 subjects were used. The images were processed using the TORTOISE software package and this was followed by TBSS analysis. Then, data analysis was performed using the FMRIB Software Library. We found no statistically significant association between total drug exposure and the fractional anisotropy values of the thalamus (p>0.05). However, we found an asymmetric effect where the left side of the thalamus experienced a stronger association. This implies that, while our results are not significant, further studies can be done using different methodologies and more subjects to measure the association between thalamic connectivity and antipsychotic drug exposure.
The Effects of Antipsychotics on the Integrity of Thalamic Connectivity in Schizophrenia Patients
A-133
In schizophrenia, many patients take medications in order to relieve their psychotic symptoms. However, the effects of these antipsychotics on the connections within the brain are not completely understood. Many of these connections are associated with the thalamus, making it an important subcortical region to analyze when measuring connectivity throughout the brain. This study aimed to see if there was any effect of antipsychotics on the integrity of thalamic connectivity for patients with schizophrenia. For this study, diffusion weighted images from 22 subjects were used. The images were processed using the TORTOISE software package and this was followed by TBSS analysis. Then, data analysis was performed using the FMRIB Software Library. We found no statistically significant association between total drug exposure and the fractional anisotropy values of the thalamus (p>0.05). However, we found an asymmetric effect where the left side of the thalamus experienced a stronger association. This implies that, while our results are not significant, further studies can be done using different methodologies and more subjects to measure the association between thalamic connectivity and antipsychotic drug exposure.