The synaptic organization of the human striatum in schizophrenics and controls: A quantitative ultrastructural study

Roberts, R.C.; Francis, Sarah M.N.

doi:10.1016/0920-9964(93)90267-m

“…The goal of the present study was to compare the synaptic organization of the schizophrenic striatum to that of normal controls (Roberts et al, 1996b) and psychiatric controls. This work has been presented in preliminary form (Roberts et al, 1992(Roberts et al, , 1995bRoberts and Francis, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synaptic changes in the striatum of schizophrenic cases: A controlled postmortem ultrastructural study

Kung

¹

,

Conley

²

,

Chute

³

et al. 1998

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Although studies indicate abnormalities in the striatum of schizophrenic people, little information exists on the synaptic changes that may be present at the ultrastructural level. Autopsy specimens of striatal tissue from people with schizophrenia, normal controls, and psychiatric controls were obtained from the Maryland Brain Collection. Several abnormalities were noted in the schizophrenic group that were not present in the normal or psychiatric controls. In schizophrenic tissue, the density and/or proportion of symmetric synaptic profiles, particularly those ending on spines, were lower in the caudate vs. the putamen, implying an imbalance in inhibitory synaptic transmission between these two structures. The density of perforated synaptic profiles, cortical afferents thought to be involved in synaptic turnover and cognition, was lower in the striatum of the schizophrenic group compared to the control groups. The density of axodendritic synaptic profiles, particularly of the asymmetric type, was decreased in the caudate, but not the putamen, of a subset of schizophrenic cases that were nondyskinetic and off drugs (NDODS). The proportion of asymmetric axospinous synaptic profiles was elevated in the caudate of the NDODS cases in comparison to normal controls. The variety of synapses affected in the schizophrenic group implies the involvement of several neuronal circuits. The alterations observed in the schizophrenic striatum were usually due to changes in the caudate, but not the putamen, which argues against drug-related alterations. Since the striatum, particularly the caudate nucleus, is involved in cognition and emotion, these neuroanatomical changes could underlie, in part, aspects of schizophrenic psychopathology.

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“…The goal of the present study was to compare the synaptic organization of the schizophrenic striatum to that of normal controls (Roberts et al, 1996b) and psychiatric controls. This work has been presented in preliminary form (Roberts et al, 1992(Roberts et al, , 1995bRoberts and Francis, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Synaptic changes in the striatum of schizophrenic cases: A controlled postmortem ultrastructural study

Kung

¹

,

Conley

²

,

Chute

³

et al. 1998

Synapse

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although studies indicate abnormalities in the striatum of schizophrenic people, little information exists on the synaptic changes that may be present at the ultrastructural level. Autopsy specimens of striatal tissue from people with schizophrenia, normal controls, and psychiatric controls were obtained from the Maryland Brain Collection. Several abnormalities were noted in the schizophrenic group that were not present in the normal or psychiatric controls. In schizophrenic tissue, the density and/or proportion of symmetric synaptic profiles, particularly those ending on spines, were lower in the caudate vs. the putamen, implying an imbalance in inhibitory synaptic transmission between these two structures. The density of perforated synaptic profiles, cortical afferents thought to be involved in synaptic turnover and cognition, was lower in the striatum of the schizophrenic group compared to the control groups. The density of axodendritic synaptic profiles, particularly of the asymmetric type, was decreased in the caudate, but not the putamen, of a subset of schizophrenic cases that were nondyskinetic and off drugs (NDODS). The proportion of asymmetric axospinous synaptic profiles was elevated in the caudate of the NDODS cases in comparison to normal controls. The variety of synapses affected in the schizophrenic group implies the involvement of several neuronal circuits. The alterations observed in the schizophrenic striatum were usually due to changes in the caudate, but not the putamen, which argues against drug-related alterations. Since the striatum, particularly the caudate nucleus, is involved in cognition and emotion, these neuroanatomical changes could underlie, in part, aspects of schizophrenic psychopathology.

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“…Thus, the goal of this study was to characterize the synaptic organization of the normal human adult striatum for comparative purposes, as well as to provide normative data for future studies of the abnormal striatum in human diseases that afflict the basal ganglia. This work has been presented in preliminary form (Roberts et al, 1992;Roberts and Francis, 1993;Roberts et al, 1994).…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Although the major features of striatal synaptic organization are consistent between rat, cat, and monkey, relatively little is known about the organization in the human (Roberts and Francis, 1993;Roberts et al, 1994). This is due to the difficulty in obtaining tissue with postmortem intervals (PMI) compatible with electron microscopy.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Synaptic organization of the human striatum: A postmortem ultrastructural study

Roberts

¹

,

Gaither

²

,

Peretti

³

et al. 1996

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The goal of this study was to characterize the synaptic organization of the normal human adult striatum for comparison with other species and with the diseased human striatum. Samples of striatal tissue from the Maryland Brain Collection obtained at autopsy with postmortem intervals of less than 4 hours were prepared for electron microscopic analysis according to standard techniques. The caudate nucleus and the putamen were similar in terms of the proportions of synaptic subtypes, the lengths of synaptic subtypes, and the area of most types of axon terminals. The proportions of major striatal synaptic subdivisions, such as axospinous synapses (83.5%) and asymmetric synapses (77.5%), were similar to that of the monkey (82% and 77%, respectively) but slightly lower than found in the rat (90% and 89%, respectively). Interestingly, the proportion of synapses with perforated postsynaptic densities (23%), a type of synapse thought to represent synaptic plasticity, was much higher in humans than in rats (5-8%). The lengths of asymmetric synapses (0.697 micron) were significantly longer than that of symmetric synapses (0.423 microns), a relationship found in other mammals. Also, the areas of terminals forming asymmetric synapses (0.707 micron2) were larger than those forming symmetric synapses (0.401 micron2), also consistent with data from other species. The length of axospinous synapses (0.656 micron) and the area of the terminals forming them (0.611 micron2) were not significantly different from the length of axodendritic synapses (0.523 micron) or the area of terminals forming them (0.602 micron2). This study is the first quantitative study on synaptic organization in human postmortem striatum. The results indicate that the synaptic organization of the human striatum is similar, but not identical, to that of other mammalian species.

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The synaptic organization of the human striatum in schizophrenics and controls: A quantitative ultrastructural study

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Synaptic changes in the striatum of schizophrenic cases: A controlled postmortem ultrastructural study

Synaptic changes in the striatum of schizophrenic cases: A controlled postmortem ultrastructural study

Synaptic changes in the striatum of schizophrenic cases: A controlled postmortem ultrastructural study

Synaptic organization of the human striatum: A postmortem ultrastructural study

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