Reduced pineal volume in male patients with schizophrenia: no relationship to clinical features of the illness

Bersani, Giuseppe; Garavini, Alessandra; Iannitelli, Angela; Quartini, Adele; Nordio, Maurizio; Biasi, C. Di; Pancheri, P.

doi:10.1016/s0304-3940(02)00617-1

Cited by 23 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the present study, the mean ± S.D pineal gland volumes for point-counting, planimetry, and ROI groups were found to be 99.55 ± 51.34, 102.69 ± 40.39, and 104.33 ± 40.45 mm 3 , respectively. These results are lower than those of Rajarethinam et al [21] and Nölte et al [36], but slightly higher than the Sun et al [23] and Bersani et al [22] results.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 70%

“…In previous studies the pineal volume was only calculated as an estimated value which would be too approximate to represent the features of pineal gland [13, 19, 22, 34]. Using a locally developed software (BRAINS, Brain Research: Analysis of Images, Networks, and Systems), Rajarethinam et al [21] obtained the pineal volume by blind manual tracing of the gland on T1-weighted images.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nölte et al [36] estimated the pineal gland volume on MRI using the volume analysis program. Bersani et al [22] calculated pineal gland volume on MRI sections using elliptic formula. Rajarethinam et al [21] and Sun et al [23] used ROI analysis for pineal gland volume estimation on MRI sections.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rajarethinam et al [21] compared the volume of the pineal gland in a sample of schizophrenic patients and in normal controls, finding no significant differences between the groups. Bersani et al [22] stated that the mean ± SD pineal volume was 64.05 ± 20.69 mm 3 for schizophrenics and 74.62 ± 33.53 mm 3 for controls, with a significant difference between the groups ( P = 0.022) shown by the 2-tailed Student's t -test. Although there have been many studies about pineal volume, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no study to date which calculated the CE value.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Comparison of Three Methods for the Estimation of Pineal Gland Volume Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Acer

Ilıca

Turgut

et al. 2012

The Scientific World Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pineal gland is a very important neuroendocrine organ with many physiological functions such as regulating circadian rhythm. Radiologically, the pineal gland volume is clinically important because it is usually difficult to distinguish small pineal tumors via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although many studies have estimated the pineal gland volume using different techniques, to the best of our knowledge, there has so far been no stereological work done on this subject. The objective of the current paper was to determine the pineal gland volume using stereological methods and by the region of interest (ROI) on MRI. In this paper, the pineal gland volumes were calculated in a total of 62 subjects (36 females, 26 males) who were free of any pineal lesions or tumors. The mean ± SD pineal gland volumes of the point-counting, planimetry, and ROI groups were 99.55 ± 51.34, 102.69 ± 40.39, and 104.33 ± 40.45 mm3, respectively. No significant difference was found among the methods of calculating pineal gland volume (P > 0.05). From these results, it can be concluded that each technique is an unbiased, efficient, and reliable method, ideally suitable for in vivo examination of MRI data for pineal gland volume estimation.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 70%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Comparison of Three Methods for the Estimation of Pineal Gland Volume Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Acer

Ilıca

Turgut

et al. 2012

The Scientific World Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The morphological characters of pineal gland are variable. In female, the reason may be correlated with the reproductive cycle, which may indirectly affect the pineal volume by causing major fluctuations in melatonin secretion (Bersani et al, 2002). According to different signal intensity on T2‐weighted MR imaging (Henkelman et al, 1991; Pu et al, 2007), small pineal cysts can be differentiated from calcifications.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The pineal volume: a three‐dimensional volumetric study in healthy young adults using 3.0 T MR data

Sun

Wang

Tang

et al. 2009

Intl J of Devlp Neuroscience

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It is usually difficult to distinguish small pineal tumors via routine or enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) scan. The knowledge of normal pineal size is helpful to detect small pineal lesions, while very few true volumetric data of pineal glands have been reported. Therefore, we obtained the accurate reference range of normal pineal volumes in 112 individuals aged 20-30 years recruited randomly from a healthy community sample. Transverse and sagittal 3.0T magnetic resonance data were obtained using three-dimensional (3D) T1-weighted FSPGR and T2-weighted SE sequences. True pineal volumes were measured from T1-weighted images, while estimated volumes were calculated using pineal length, width and height. All the glands were divided into three types according to the maximum inner diameter of pineal cysts. The prevalence of asymptomatic pineal cyst is 25.00%, with a slight female predominance. In the whole sample, we found no gender differences of pineal volume, but a significant gender difference of pineal volume index. A significant correlation between pineal volume and asymptomatic cyst was found. After excluding cases with big pineal cysts, there were significant correlations between pineal volume and head circumference, body height and body weight, respectively. This study suggests that asymptomatic pineal cysts may exert an important influence on pineal volume.

show abstract

“Seat of the soul”? The structure and function of the pineal gland in women with alleged spirit possession—Results of two experimental studies

Bastos

Paez

et al. 2020

Brain and Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Cultural traditions attribute to pineal gland an important role for spiritual experiences. Mediumship and spirit possession are cultural phenomena found worldwide which have been described as having dissociative and psychotic‐like characteristics, but with nonpathological aspects. A sympathetic activation pattern in response to spirit possession has been reported in some studies, but empirical data on pineal gland is scarce in this context. Methods We aimed to investigate pineal gland and pituitary volumes, as well as urinary 6‐sulfatoxymelatonin levels in 16 alleged mediums (Medium Group‐MG) compared with 16 healthy nonmedium controls (Control Group) (Experiment 1). Furthermore, we aimed to evaluate urinary 6‐sulfatoxymelatonin and stress reactivity in GM ( n = 10) under different physiological conditions (Experiment 2). Results In Experiment 1, MG presented higher scores of anomalous experiences, but there were no between‐group differences regarding mental health or subjective sleep quality. Similar pineal gland and pituitary volumes were observed between groups. There were no between‐group differences in urinary 6‐sulfatoxymelatonin collected under equivalent baseline conditions. In Experiment 2, the rise of anxiety and heart rate in response to mediumistic experience was intermediate between a nonstressful control task (reading) and a stressful control task (Trier Social Stress Test—TSST). No significant differences were observed in 6‐sulfatoxymelatonin urinary levels between the three conditions. The pattern of stress reactivity during the TSST was normal, but with an attenuated salivary cortisol response. Conclusion The normal neuroimaging and stress reactivity findings in MG contrast with the abnormal results usually observed in subjects with psychotic and dissociative disorders.

show abstract

Reduced pineal volume in male patients with schizophrenia: no relationship to clinical features of the illness

Cited by 23 publications

References 16 publications

Comparison of Three Methods for the Estimation of Pineal Gland Volume Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Comparison of Three Methods for the Estimation of Pineal Gland Volume Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The pineal volume: a three‐dimensional volumetric study in healthy young adults using 3.0 T MR data

“Seat of the soul”? The structure and function of the pineal gland in women with alleged spirit possession—Results of two experimental studies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About