Objective: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was used to study medial prefrontal metabolic impairments in schizophrenic patients with the deficit syndrome.
Method: The subjects were 22 schizophrenic patients categorized as deficit (N=5) or nondeficit (N=17) and 21 healthy subjects. (1)H-MRS was performed for the right and the left medial prefrontal cortex.
Results: The patients with the deficit syndrome had significantly lower ratios of N-acetylaspartate to creatine plus phosphocreatine than did the healthy subjects or nondeficit patients.
Conclusions: As N-acetylaspartate levels could reflect neuronal density and/or viability, this finding suggests a neuronal loss in the medial prefrontal cortex of deficit patients.