A magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging study of adult nonhuman primates exposed to early-life stressors

Magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy in a mouse model of schizophrenia

“…The Cho/NAA ratio ranged from 0.618 ± 0.027 to 1.140 ± 0.120 whereas the Cr/NAA ratio ranged from 0.759 ± 0.094 to 0.925 ± 0.082. These ranges are in agreement with those previously reported by other 1 H-MRS studies (Lindquist et al, 2000;Mathew et al, 2003;O'Neill et al, 2004). The Cho/NAA ratio was significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) between homozygous ckr mice and wild-type cohorts.…”

“…These findings are consistent with previous studies reporting decreases of Cho and NAA ratios in some schizophrenia patients, an effect also seen in brains of individuals diagnosed with bipolar depression (Tsai et al, 1995;Winberg et al, 2000). Further, the finding of decreased Cho and NAA ratios in the ckr mouse brain are strikingly similar to models of stressful early rearing in non-human primates (Mathew et al, 2003), and in adolescent humans with post-traumatic stress syndrome (De Bellis et al, 2000). Thus, there is neurochemical commonality between our spectroscopic results and psychiatric disorders marked by early adverse experiences.…”

Advances in the treatment of anxiety: Targeting glutamate

“…168 It has also been shown to be abnormal in key brain areas in several psychiatric illnesses including schizophrenia, 169 depression, 170 and anxiety disorders, 4,[171][172][173] although the directionality of NAA in these diseases has been more variable than in the neurodegenerative disorders. We and others have shown, for example, decreased NAA in the superior temporal gyrus of patients with schizophrenia, 174 decreased NAA in the anterior cingulate of monkeys exposed to early rearing stress, 175 reduced NAA concentrations in the temporal cortex of rats reared in isolation, 176 and increased NAA in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of patients with GAD. 4 Importantly, NAA appears to be vulnerable to psychosocial stress.…”

“…174,177,178 Also, in our adult monkeys exposed to adverse rearing stress, we found an elevated GLX peak in the anterior cingulate that correlated significantly with reduced NAA concentration. 175 Thus, we might conclude that adverse rearing stress increases excitatory neurotransmission that leads to a reduction in neural integrity as measured by the NAA peak; important to consider is the persistence of this hyperglutamatergic state, long after the initial rearing stress. However, we cannot rule out a change in GABA concentration in this experiment nor make cause-andeffect conclusions based on a correlation.…”

Evidence for Acquired Pregenual Anterior Cingulate Gray Matter Loss from a Twin Study of Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

“…In animals, exposure to chronic stress has been shown to damage not only the hippocampus in rodents (40) and primates (41), but also the ACC in rodents (42)(43) and primates (44). It has been hypothesized that such damage may provide a basis for structural changes observed in PTSD (42,45).…”