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Anterior cingulate grey-matter deficits and cannabis use in first-episode schizophrenia.

Szeszko PR, Robinson DG, Sevy S, Kumra S, Rupp CI, Betensky JD, Lencz T, Ashtari M, Kane JM, Malhotra AK, Gunduz-Bruce H, Napolitano B, Bilder RM

Zucker Hillside Hospital, Psychiatry Research, 75-59 263rd Street, Glen Oaks, NY 11004, USA. szeszko@lij.edu

BACKGROUND: Despite the high prevalence of cannabis use in schizophrenia, few studies have examined the potential relationship between cannabis exposure and brain structural abnormalities in schizophrenia. AIMS: To investigate prefrontal grey and white matter regions in patients experiencing a first episode of schizophrenia with an additional diagnosis of cannabis use or dependence (n=20) compared with similar patients with no cannabis use (n=31) and healthy volunteers (n=56). METHOD: Volumes of the superior frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate gyrus and orbital frontal lobe were outlined manually from contiguous magnetic resonance images and automatically segmented into grey and white matter. RESULTS: Patients who used cannabis had less anterior cingulate grey matter compared with both patients who did not use cannabis and healthy volunteers. CONCLUSIONS: A defect in the anterior cingulate is associated with a history of cannabis use among patients experiencing a first episode of schizophrenia and could have a role in poor decision-making and in choosing more risky outcomes.

Published 1 March 2007 in Br J Psychiatry, 190: 230-6.
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