目前，哥伦比亚大学的神经学家和精神病专家已经识别了一个大脑区域，该区域和早期的精神分裂症以及相关的精神病紊乱有关。

　　海马体（hippocampus）这个特殊区域的活性可能有助于预测疾病的发生，为疾病的早期诊断以及精神分裂预防药物的开发提供机会和新的思路。

　　这项研究结果发布在2009年9月7日的Archives of General Psychiatry上。

　　在这项研究中，研究人员扫描了18位有前驱症状的高风险个体的大脑，并作了两年的跟踪调查。那些出现精神失常，比如精神分裂，的个体，其中70%大脑中海马体的某一区域活性显著偏高，就是我们所知的CA1子域。

　　之前的研究表明，在慢性精神分裂患者的海马体中有一个非常普遍的活性增强区域，这只发生在疾病的早期。在症状完全显露出来的时候，活性增强的区域只在某一个亚区中，而且该区域可以区分哪些将具有更高的风险出现精神紊乱。

　　功能磁共振成像是一项非侵害性的技术，用于检测大脑代谢，指示不同活性的部位。绘制大脑皮层平均脑血容量(CBV)图是在fMRI测量活性过程中使用的一种方法。它可以指示新陈代谢的增强或减弱。

　　使用这种成像技术，研究人员观察了是否该区域能够被选择性的靶向。在比较了高风险人群中发病和未发病的个体后，研究人员发现，在病发的年轻人中只有CA1亚区是异常的。

　　现在科研人员正在试着解释为什么CA1能够选择性靶向。要知道其潜在的原因，那么就需要了解这个区域首先受到影响的原因。可能在疾病的形成过程中CA1亚区同样会导致大脑的其他区域机能失常。

　　接下来研究人员，将进行大量的研究证实是否这是一个真正有效的生物靶标，并能作为一种鉴别精神分裂风险的诊断工具。（生物谷Bioon.com）

　　生物谷推荐原始出处：

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009;66(9):938-946.

Differential Targeting of the CA1 Subfield of the Hippocampal Formation by Schizophrenia and Related Psychotic Disorders

Scott A. Schobel, MD; Nicole M. Lewandowski, PhD; Cheryl M. Corcoran, MD; Holly Moore, PhD; Truman Brown, PhD; Dolores Malaspina, MD, MSPH; Scott A. Small, MD

Context  Because schizophrenia and related disorders have a chronic time course and subtle histopathology, it is difficult to identify which brain regions are differentially targeted.

Objective  To identify brain sites differentially targeted by schizophrenia, we applied a high-resolution variant of functional magnetic resonance imaging to clinically characterized patients and matched healthy controls and to a cohort of prodromal subjects who were prospectively followed up. Additionally, to explore the potential confound of medication use, the fMRI variant was applied to rodents receiving an antipsychotic agent.

Design  Cross-sectional and prospective cohort designs.

Setting  Hospital clinic and magnetic resonance imaging laboratory.

Participants  Eighteen patients with schizophrenia, 18 controls comparable in age and sex, and 18 prodromal patients followed up prospectively for 2 years. Ten C57-B mice received an antipsychotic agent or vehicle control.

Main Outcome Measures  Regional cerebral blood volume (CBV), as measured with magnetic resonance imaging, and symptom severity, as measured with clinical rating scales.

Results  In a first between-group analysis that compared patients with schizophrenia with controls, results revealed abnormal CBV increases in the CA1 subfield and the orbitofrontal cortex and abnormal CBV decreases in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In a second longitudinal analysis, baseline CBV abnormalities in the CA1 subfield differentially predicted clinical progression to psychosis from a prodromal state. In a third correlational analysis, CBV levels in the CA1 subfield differentially correlated with clinical symptoms of psychosis. Finally, additional analyses of the human data set and imaging studies in mice suggested that antipsychotic agents were not confounding the primary findings.

Conclusions  Taken as a whole, the results suggest that the CA1 subfield of the hippocampal subregion is differentially targeted by schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. Interpreted in the context of previous studies, these findings inform underlying mechanisms of illness progression.