Quantitative Evaluation of the Parietal Lobes Abnormalities in Sudanese Patients with Schizophrenia: A Comparative Brain Segmentation Study

Year 2025, Volume: 7 Issue: 3, 709 - 16, 09.09.2025

Meltem Açar Güdek , Amani Elfaki , Mert Nahir , Amira Muhammed Osman Haroun , Sahar Shareef , Bünyamin Şahin

https://doi.org/10.37990/medr.1700713

Abstract

Aim: Schizophrenia is a long-standing psychiatric condition marked by a gradual deterioration in cognitive functioning, personality organization, and affective responsiveness. This study represents the first magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) investigation to explore morphological similarities and differences of the parietal lobes in Sudanese individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Material and Method: The study cohort comprised 54 patients and 82 healthy participants who met the inclusion criteria. All participants underwent a structured socio demographic assessment and comprehensive physical examination. Brain MRI scans were acquired and subsequently analyzed using automated brain segmentation software applied to DICOM format images.
Results: The mean volume of the parietal lobe was significantly lower in patients (114.97±10.86 cm³) compared to controls (127.85±10.65 cm³). Similarly, volume reductions were seen in both gray and white matter compartments in patients (72.49±7.54 cm³ and 42.47±4.51 cm³) compared to controls (79.40±6.77 cm³ and 48.46±5.94 cm³). However, no significant difference was observed in the cortical pial surface area of the parietal lobe between groups. Parietal cortical thickness was notably diminished in patients (p≤0.05).
Conclusion: The reductions observed in total parietal lobe volume, along with diminished gray and white matter volumes in individuals with schizophrenia, indicate a widespread atrophic process affecting this cerebral region. These structural abnormalities may underlie specific cognitive deficits commonly associated with schizophrenia.

Keywords

Parietal lobe; chronic schizophrenia , magnetic resonance images , automatic brain segmentations

Ethical Statement

Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Sudan Gezira University the Research Ethics Committe (Approval Referans Number C.C/K.T.D.A/T.L.A.B dated September 17, 2009).

References

• Kahn RS. On the origins of schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry. 2020;177:291-7.
• Goldner EM, Hsu L, Waraich P, Somers JM. Prevalence and incidence studies of schizophrenic disorders: a systematic review of the literature. Can J Psychiatry. 2002;47:833-43.
• Rapoport JL, Addington AM, Frangou S, Psych MR. The neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia: update 2005. Mol Psychiatry. 2005;10:434-49.
• Doi M, Usui N, Shimada S. Prenatal environment and neurodevelopmental disorders. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022;13:860110.
• Sadeghi D, Shoeibi A, Ghassemi N, et al. An overview of artificial intelligence techniques for diagnosis of Schizophrenia based on magnetic resonance imaging modalities: methods, challenges, and future works. Comput Biol Med. 2022;146:105554.
• Heidari Z, Mahmoudzadeh-Sagheb H, Shakiba M, Gorgich EAC. Brain structural changes in schizophrenia patients compared to the control: an MRI-based Cavalieri's method. Basic Clin Neurosci. 2023;14:355-63.
• Shailaja B, Javadekar A, Chaudhury S, Saldanha D. Clinical correlates of regional gray matter volumes in schizophrenia: a structural magnetic resonance imaging study. Ind Psychiatry J. 2022;31:282-92.
• Zhang M, Xiang H, Yang F, et al. Structural brain imaging abnormalities correlate with positive symptom in schizophrenia. Neurosci Lett. 2022; 782:136683.
• Wright IC, Rabe-Hesketh S, Woodruff PW, et al. Meta-analysis of regional brain volumes in schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry. 2000;157:16-25.
• Glahn DC, Laird AR, Ellison-Wright I, et al. Meta-analysis of gray matter anomalies in schizophrenia: application of anatomic likelihood estimation and network analysis. Biol Psychiatry. 2008;64:774-81.
• Honea R, Crow TJ, Passingham D, Mackay CE. Regional deficits in brain volume in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies. Am J Psychiatry. 2005;162:2233-45.
• Hashimoto R, Javan AK, Tassone F, et al. A voxel-based morphometry study of grey matter loss in fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome. Brain. 2011;134:863-78.
• Yildiz M, Borgwardt SJ, Berger GE. Parietal lobes in schizophrenia: do they matter?. Schizophr Res Treatment. 2011;2011:581686.
• Lam M, Collinson SL, Sim K, et al. Asymmetry of lexico-semantic processing in schizophrenia changes with disease progression. Schizophr Res. 2012;134:125-30.
• Zipursky RB, Marsh L, Lim KO, et al. Volumetric MRI assessment of temporal lobe structures in schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry. 1994;35:501-16.
• Park S, Holzman PS. Schizophrenics show spatial working memory deficits. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1992;49:975-82.
• Khalil M, Hollander P, Raucher-Chéné D, et al. Structural brain correlates of cognitive function in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022;132:37-49.
• Kowalczyk OS, Cubillo AI, Smith A, et al. Methylphenidate and atomoxetine normalise fronto-parietal underactivation during sustained attention in ADHD adolescents. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2019;29:1102-16.
• Liu W, Cai X, Chang Y, et al. Structural abnormalities in the fronto-parietal network: linking white matter integrity to sustained attention deficits in schizophrenia. Brain Res Bull. 2023;205:110818.
• Petric PS, Ifteni P, Miron AA, et al . Brain abnormalities in schizophrenia: a comparative imagistic study. Medicina (Kaunas). 2024;60:564.
• Stegmayer K, Bohlhalter S, Vanbellingen T, et al. Structural brain correlates of defective gesture performance in schizophrenia. Cortex. 2016;78:125-37.
• Olabi B, Ellison-Wright I, McIntosh AM, et al. Are there progressive brain changes in schizophrenia? A meta-analysis of structural magnetic resonance imaging studies. Biol Psychiatry. 2011;70:88-96.
• McCarley RW, Wible CG, Frumin M, et al. MRI anatomy of schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry. 1999;45:1099-119.
• Buchanan RW, Francis A, Arango C, et al. Morphometric assessment of the heteromodal association cortex in schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry. 2004;161:322-31.
• Shapleske J, Rossell SL, Chitnis XA, et al. A computational morphometric MRI study of schizophrenia: effects of hallucinations. Cereb Cortex. 2002;12:1331-41.
• Bourisly AK, El-Beltagi A, Cherian J, et al. A voxel-based morphometric magnetic resonance imaging study of the brain detects age-related gray matter volume changes in healthy subjects of 21-45 years old. Neuroradiol J. 2015;28:450-9.
• Goel T, Varaprasad SA, Tanveer M, Pilli R. Investigating white matter abnormalities associated with schizophrenia using deep learning model and voxel-based morphometry. Brain Sciences. 2023;13:267.
• Kwon JS, McCarley RW, Hirayasu Y, et al. Left planum temporale volume reduction in schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1999;56:142-8.
• Kim N, Kim MJ, Strauman TJ, Hariri AR. Intrinsic functional connectivity of motor and heteromodal association cortex predicts individual differences in regulatory focus. PNAS Nexus. 2024;3:pgae167.
• Aydin N, Dane S, Oztürk I, et al. Left ear (right temporal hemisphere) advantage and left temporal hemispheric dysfunction in schizophrenia. Percept Mot Skills. 2001;93:230-8.
• Sommer IE, Ramsey NF, Kahn RS. Language lateralization in schizophrenia, an fMRI study. Schizophr Res. 2001;52:57-67.
• Kircher TT, Liddle PF, Brammer MJ, et al. Reversed lateralization of temporal activation during speech production in thought disordered patients with schizophrenia. Psychol Med. 2002;32:439-49.
• Ribolsi M, Daskalakis ZJ, Siracusano A, Koch G. Abnormal asymmetry of brain connectivity in schizophrenia. Front Hum Neurosci. 2014;8:1010.
• Mitchell RL, Crow TJ. Right hemisphere language functions and schizophrenia: the forgotten hemisphere?. Brain. 2005;128:963-78.
• Crow TJ. The 'big bang' theory of the origin of psychosis and the faculty of language. Schizophr Res. 2008;102:31-52.
• van Erp TGM, Walton E, Hibar DP, et al. Cortical brain abnormalities in 4474 individuals with schizophrenia and 5098 control subjects via the enhancing neuro imaging genetics through meta analysis (ENIGMA) consortium. Biol Psychiatry. 2018;84:644-654.
• Xiao Y, Lui S, Deng W, et al. Altered cortical thickness related to clinical severity but not the untreated disease duration in schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 2015;41:201-10.
• Rimol LM, Nesvåg R, Hagler DJ Jr, et al. Cortical volume, surface area, and thickness in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Biol Psychiatry. 2012;71:552-60. Erratum in: Biol Psychiatry. 2012;71:660.
• Goldman AL, Pezawas L, Mattay VS, et al. Widespread reductions of cortical thickness in schizophrenia and spectrum disorders and evidence of heritability. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009;66:467-77.