Gray matter volume differences specific to formal thought disorder in schizophrenia

Formal thought disorder (FTD) is one of the main symptoms of schizophrenia. To date there are no whole brain volumetric studies investigating gray matter (GM) differences specifically associated with FTD. Here, we studied 20 right-handed schizophrenia patients that differed in the severity of formal thought disorder and 20 matched healthy controls, using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). The severity of FTD was measured with the Scale for the Assessment of Thought, Language, and Communication. The severity was negatively correlated with the GM volume of the left superior temporal sulcus, the left temporal pole, the right middle orbital gyrus and the right cuneus/lingual gyrus. Structural abnormalities specific for FTD were found to be unrelated to GM differences associated with schizophrenia in general. The specific GM abnormalities within the left temporal lobe may help to explain language disturbances included in FTD.

Negotiating conservation: the construction of meaningful spaces in a world heritage debate

According to one’s personal biography, social background and the resultant degree of affectedness, a person has certain ideas about the meaning of, in our example, a World Heritage Site (WHS), what he or she can expect from it and what his or her relation to it can and should be. The handling of potentially different meaningful spaces is decisive, when it comes to the negotiation of pathways towards the sustainable development of a WHS region. Due to the fact that – in a pluralistic world – multiple realities exist, they have to be taken seriously and adequately addressed. In this article we identified the ways the Jungfrau-Aletsch- WHS was constructed by exploring the visual and verbal representations of the WHS during the decision-making process (1998-2001). The results demonstrate that in the visual representations (images), the WHS was to a large extent presented as an unspoiled natural environment similar to a touristy promotion brochure. Such a ‘picture-book’-like portrait has no direct link to the population’s daily needs, their questions and anxieties about the consequences of a WHS label. By contrast, the verbal representations (articles, letters-to-the-editor, comments) were dominated by issues concerning the economic development of the region, fears of disappropriation, and different views on nature. Whereas visual and verbal representations to a large extent differ significantly, their combination might have contributed to the final decision of the majority of people concerned to support the application for inscription of the Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn region into the World Heritage list. The prominence of economic arguments and narratives about intergenerational responsibility in the verbal representations and their combination with the aesthetic appeal of the natural environment in the visual representations might have built a common meaningful space for one part of the population.

Semantic network disconnection in formal thought disorder

Structural and functional findings in schizophrenic patients with formal thought disorder (FTD) show abnormalities within left-side semantic areas. The present study investigate the network function of the involved brain regions as a function of FTD severity.