Morphological changes in schizophrenia: Fact or neuroleptic exposure.
Item
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Title
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Morphological changes in schizophrenia: Fact or neuroleptic exposure.
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Identifier
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AAI3187402
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identifier
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3187402
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Creator
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Somenarain, Latchman.
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Contributor
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Chairperson: Liesl B. Jones
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Date
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2005
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Biology, Neuroscience | Health Sciences, Mental Health | Psychology, Psychobiology
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Abstract
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There are converging lines of evidence suggesting significant morphological changes in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia. There are consistent findings of increased neuronal density without a concomitant change in the total number of neurons, suggesting possible changes in the cortical neuropil. A contentious issue surrounding these findings in the prefrontal cortex is the confounding effects of neuroleptic exposure. Neuroleptics are known to cause changes in the ultrastructure and synaptic elements in the cortical neuropil and as such might confound the reported alterations in schizophrenia. This study employed MAP2 and Neurogranin Immunohistochemistry, Nissl staining and Golgi impregnation to analyze the pyramidal cells and their structures in layer III and V in areas 9 and 17 in a cohort of Huntington's brains and compared changes to that observed in subjects with schizophrenia and in controls. Both MAP2 and Neurogranin area fraction analysis in both layer III and V in area 9 showed a significant decrease in Schizophrenic brains compared to controls and Huntington brains. In the Huntington's brains, MAP2 area fraction was lower than the control brains but not different in layer III; similarly, the Neurogranin area fraction was not different from controls in both layers. The cell density measurements for both pyramidal cells and total neuronal cells showed no significant differences comparing Huntington, schizophrenia and controls in both layers. There was a schizophrenia-associated decrease in basal dendrites and spines in both layers III and V in area 9 and no significant difference in Huntington's brains compared to controls. There were no significant changes seen in Area 17 for all of the parameters measured in the three groups. The data support the hypothesis suggesting that antipsychotic medication might not be responsible for the neuroanatomical changes observed in the neuropil of the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia. Furthermore, these observations provide additional insightful information for both schizophrenia and Huntington Chorea.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
