Am J Psychiatry 1985; 142:78-81
Copyright © 1985 by American Psychiatric Association
Clinical correlates of decreased anteroposterior metabolic gradients in positron emission tomography (PET) of schizophrenic patients
LE DeLisi, MS Buchsbaum, HH Holcomb, S Dowling-Zimmerman, D Pickar, J Boronow, JM Morihisa, DP van Kammen, W Carpenter and R Kessler
The finding in schizophrenic patients of a reversal of the normal frontal
to posterior pattern of brain metabolic activity with positron emission
tomography (PET) is of interest, but its relevance to psychopathology is
unknown. Using PET, the authors studied 21 patients with chronic
schizophrenia and 21 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Although eight
of the 21 patients and only one of the control subjects showed a relatively
lower anteroposterior metabolic gradient, no clinical correlates of this
finding were noted. In addition, cerebral atrophy, as determined by CAT
scan, was not associated with this aberrant metabolic pattern.
