The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that schizophrenia patients’ hippocampi are metabolically different from healthy controls’. Twenty-four patients and seven controls were studied with proton MR spectroscopic imaging at 3 T. Hippocampal volumes were also obtained. The findings were increased choline concentration in patients' hippocampi compared with controls, but no statistically significant changes in n-acetyl-aspartate or total creatine. While contrary to previous (mostly single-voxel) proton MR spectroscopy studies, these findings are nevertheless consistent with neuropathology reports of neither gliosis nor net neuronal loss. Bilateral hippocampal volume was 10% lower in the patients, consistent with previous reports.
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