Decrease of Gray Matter Volume in Treatment-refractory Schizophrenia Patients

Objective:To investigate the gray matter alterations in treatment-refractory schizophrenia (TRS) patients and to explore the correlations between gray matter alterations and clinical characteristics in these patients. Methods:Voxel based morphometry (VBM) in conjunction with statistical parametric mapping on the structural magnetic resonance images of TRS patients (n=24) and healthy controls (n=21) was performed to assess differences between the two groups in gray matter volume(GMV). Results: We found GMV decreased in the left olfactory, bilateral insula and right anterior cingulate of TRS patients compared to healthy controls (p<0.05, FWE corrected). However, we did not find any correlation between gray matter reduction and clinical characteristics in these patients. Conclusion:TRS patients have GMV decreased in the left olfactory, bilateral insula and right anterior cingulate