White matter abnormalities in psychiatric disorders

Abstract

This article reviews the reports of white matter abnormalities in several psychiatric disorders. Volumetric differences found by voxel-based morphometry or region-of-interest analysis of structural magnetic resonance imaging studies are described. Abnormalities in the diffusion metrics, primarily fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity, from diffusion tensor imaging studies are also summarized. The consensus is that there are widespread abnormalities in white matter in psychiatric disorders, but no particular region has been identified as specific to any one disease. Instead, these diseases seem to impact commonly the corpus callosum and superior longitudinal fasciculus, as well as several other connecting tracts. Neuroimaging has provided significant insights into the aberrant white matter in these diseases, but more work is required to understand the timing, progression, and underlying pathophysiology of these abnormalities.

Keywords

White matter - voxel-based morphometry - diffusion tensor imaging - psychiatric disorders - schizophrenia - depression - autism - attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder - substance use