Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Apr 15;24(1):281.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-024-05721-3.

Brain structural alterations associated with impulsiveness in male violent patients with schizophrenia

Juntao Lu  1 , Ningzhi Gou  2 , Qiaoling Sun  1 , Ying Huang  1 , Huijuan Guo  1 , Dian Han  1 , Jiansong Zhou  3 , Xiaoping Wang  4
Affiliations

Brain structural alterations associated with impulsiveness in male violent patients with schizophrenia

Juntao Lu et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Violence in schizophrenia (SCZ) is a phenomenon associated with neurobiological factors. However, the neural mechanisms of violence in patients with SCZ are not yet sufficiently understood. Thus, this study aimed to explore the structural changes associated with the high risk of violence and its association with impulsiveness in patients with SCZ to reveal the possible neurobiological basis.

Method: The voxel-based morphometry approach and whole-brain analyses were used to measure the alteration of gray matter volume (GMV) for 45 schizophrenia patients with violence (VSC), 45 schizophrenia patients without violence (NSC), and 53 healthy controls (HC). Correlation analyses were used to examine the association of impulsiveness and brain regions associated with violence.

Results: The results demonstrated reduced GMV in the right insula within the VSC group compared with the NSC group, and decreased GMV in the right temporal pole and left orbital part of superior frontal gyrus only in the VSC group compared to the HC group. Spearman correlation analyses further revealed a positive correlation between impulsiveness and GMV of the left superior temporal gyrus, bilateral insula and left medial orbital part of the superior frontal gyrus in the VSC group.

Conclusion: Our findings have provided further evidence for structural alterations in patients with SCZ who had engaged in severe violence, as well as the relationship between the specific brain alterations and impulsiveness. This work provides neural biomarkers and improves our insight into the neural underpinnings of violence in patients with SCZ.

Keywords: Impulsive; MRI; Schizophrenia; Violent behavior; Volume.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Reduction in GMV of the right insula in the VSC group compared to the NSC group (Peak voxel significant at p < 0.05, voxel-level familywise error (FWE) correction)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Decrease of GMV in the VSC group compared to the HC group (Peak voxel significant at p < 0.05, voxel-level familywise error (FWE) correction). (A) left superior temporal gyrus; (B) left insula; (C) left superior frontal gyrus, medial orbital; (D) right insula; (E) right superior frontal gyrus, medial; (F) right superior temporal gyrus; (G) left superior frontal gyrus, orbital part; (H) right temporal pole: middle temporal gyrus
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Decrease of GMV in the NSC group compared to the HC group (Peak voxel significant at p < 0.05, voxel-level familywise error (FWE) correction). (A) left insula; (B) left superior frontal gyrus, medial; (C) left superior temporal gyrus; (D) right insula; (E) right superior frontal gyrus, medial; (F) right superior temporal gyrus
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Spearman correlation analysis between the mean GMV of the significant region and the impulsiveness score in the VSC group. (A): left superior temporal gyrus (STG), r = 0.345, P = 0.020; (B): left insula (INS), r = 0.485, P = 0.001; (C): right insula (INS), r = 0.388, P = 0.008; (D): left superior frontal gyrus, medial orbital part (ORBsupmed), r = 0.314, P = 0.036
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Fleischman A, Werbeloff N, Yoffe R, Davidson M, Weiser M. Schizophrenia and violent crime: a population-based study. Psychol Med. 2014;44(14):3051–7. doi: 10.1017/S0033291714000695. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Whiting D, Gulati G, Geddes JR, Fazel S. Association of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders and violence perpetration in adults and adolescents from 15 countries: a systematic review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry. 2022;79(2):120–32. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.3721. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wehring HJ, Carpenter WT. Violence and schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 2011;37(5):877–8. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbr094. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bo S, Abu-Akel A, Kongerslev M, Haahr UH, Simonsen E. Risk factors for violence among patients with schizophrenia. Clin Psychol Rev. 2011;31(5):711–26. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2011.03.002. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Schiffer B, Müller BW, Scherbaum N, Forsting M, Wiltfang J, Leygraf N, Gizewski ER. Impulsivity-related brain volume deficits in schizophrenia-addiction comorbidity. Brain. 2010;133(10):3093–103. doi: 10.1093/brain/awq153. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types