TY - JOUR A1 - Uppal, Neha A1 - Gianatiempo, Isabella A1 - Wicinski, Bridget A1 - Schmeidler, James A1 - Heinsen, Helmut A1 - Schmitz, Christoph A1 - Buxbaum, Joseph D. A1 - Hof, Patrick R. T1 - Neuropathology of the posteroinferior occipitotemporal gyrus in children with autism JF - Molecular Autism N2 - Background: While most neuropathologic studies focus on regions involved in behavioral abnormalities in autism, it is also important to identify whether areas that appear functionally normal are devoid of pathologic alterations. In this study we analyzed the posteroinferior occipitotemporal gyrus, an extrastriate area not considered to be affected in autism. This area borders the fusiform gyrus, which is known to exhibit functional and cellular abnormalities in autism. Findings: No studies have implicated posteroinferior occipitotemporal gyrus dysfunction in autism, leading us to hypothesize that neuropathology would not occur in this area. We indeed observed no significant differences in pyramidal neuron number or size in layers III, V, and VI in seven pairs of autism and controls. Conclusions: These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that neuropathology is unique to areas involved in stereotypies and social and emotional behaviors, and support the specificity of the localization of pathology in the fusiform gyrus. KW - autism KW - posteroinferior occipitotemporal gyrus KW - Stereology KW - fusiform gyrus KW - sections KW - neuropathology Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-117275 VL - 5 IS - 17 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmitt, Andrea A1 - Tatsch, Laura A1 - Vollhardt, Alisa A1 - Schneider-Axmann, Thomas A1 - Raabe, Florian J. A1 - Roell, Lukas A1 - Heinsen, Helmut A1 - Hof, Patrick R. A1 - Falkai, Peter A1 - Schmitz, Christoph T1 - Decreased oligodendrocyte number in hippocampal subfield CA4 in schizophrenia: a replication study JF - Cells N2 - Hippocampus-related cognitive deficits in working and verbal memory are frequent in schizophrenia, and hippocampal volume loss, particularly in the cornu ammonis (CA) subregions, was shown by magnetic resonance imaging studies. However, the underlying cellular alterations remain elusive. By using unbiased design-based stereology, we reported a reduction in oligodendrocyte number in CA4 in schizophrenia and of granular neurons in the dentate gyrus (DG). Here, we aimed to replicate these findings in an independent sample. We used a stereological approach to investigate the numbers and densities of neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes in CA4 and of granular neurons in the DG of left and right hemispheres in 11 brains from men with schizophrenia and 11 brains from age- and sex-matched healthy controls. In schizophrenia, a decreased number and density of oligodendrocytes was detected in the left and right CA4, whereas mean volumes of CA4 and the DG and the numbers and density of neurons, astrocytes, and granular neurons were not different in patients and controls, even after adjustment of variables because of positive correlations with postmortem interval and age. Our results replicate the previously described decrease in oligodendrocytes bilaterally in CA4 in schizophrenia and point to a deficit in oligodendrocyte maturation or a loss of mature oligodendrocytes. These changes result in impaired myelination and neuronal decoupling, both of which are linked to altered functional connectivity and subsequent cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. KW - schizophrenia KW - hippocampus KW - CA4 KW - dentate gyrus KW - postmortem KW - stereology KW - oligodendrocyte KW - neuron Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-290360 SN - 2073-4409 VL - 11 IS - 20 ER -