PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - T R Nicholson
AU  - S Aybek
AU  - M J Kempton
AU  - E M Daly
AU  - D G Murphy
AU  - A S David
AU  - R A Kanaan
TI  - A structural MRI study of motor conversion disorder: evidence of reduction in thalamic volume
AID  - 10.1136/jnnp-2013-305012
DP  - 2014 Feb 01
TA  - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
PG  - 227--229
VI  - 85
IP  - 2
4099  - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/85/2/227.short
4100  - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/85/2/227.full
SO  - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry2014 Feb 01; 85
AB  - Objective To investigate potential abnormalities in subcortical brain structures in conversion disorder (CD) compared with controls using a region of interest (ROI) approach. Methods Fourteen patients with motor CD were compared with 31 healthy controls using high-resolution MRI scans with an ROI approach focusing on the basal ganglia, thalamus and amygdala. Brain volumes were measured using Freesurfer, a validated segmentation algorithm. Results Significantly smaller left thalamic volumes were found in patients compared with controls when corrected for intracranial volume. These reductions did not vary with handedness, laterality, duration or severity of symptoms. Conclusions These differences may reflect a primary disease process in this area or be secondary effects of the disorder, for example, resulting from limb disuse. Larger, longitudinal structural imaging studies will be required to confirm the findings and explore whether they are primary or secondary to CD.