Multimodal image analysis of sensorimotor gating in healthy women

Prepulse inhibition (PPI) deficits have been reported in individuals with schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders with dysfunction of the cortico–striato–pallido–thalamic circuit. The purpose of this study was to investigate the structural neural correlates of PPI by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) metrics. The subjects were 53 healthy women (mean age; 40.7±11.3 years). We examined the possible relationships between PPI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics to estimate white matter integrity and gray matter volume analyzed using the DARTEL (diffeomorphic anatomical registration through exponentiated lie) algebra method. There were significant correlations between DTI metrics and PPI in the parahippocampal region, the anterior limb of the internal capsule, the ventral tegmental area, the thalamus and anterior thalamic radiations, the left prefrontal region, the callosal commissural fiber, and various white matter regions. There were also positive correlations between PPI and gray matter volume in the bilateral parietal gyri and the left inferior prefrontal gyrus at a trend level. The present study revealed evidence of a relationship between PPI and the integrity of white matter. This result was compatible with the previous suggestion that PPI would be modulated by the cortico-striato-thalamic-pallido-pontine circuit.

Highlight
► PPI was correlated with DTI metrics in various white matter regions.
► There were also positive correlations between PPI and gray matter volume.
► PPI was modulated by the cortico–striato–thalamic–pallido–pontine circuit.