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Sun S, Xiao S, Guo Z, Gong J, Tang G, Huang L, Wang Y. Meta-analysis of cortical thickness reduction in adult schizophrenia. J Psychiatry Neurosci 2023; 48:E461-E470. [PMID: 38123240 PMCID: PMC10743639 DOI: 10.1503/jpn.230081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Revised: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Numerous neuroimaging studies using surface-based morphometry analyses have reported altered cortical thickness among patients with schizophrenia, but the results have been inconsistent. We sought to provide a whole-brain meta-analysis, which may help enhance the spatial accuracy of identification. METHODS We conducted a meta-analysis of whole-brain studies that explored cortical thickness alteration among adult patients with schizophrenia, including first-episode patients with schizophrenia, and patients with chronic schizophrenia, compared with healthy controls by using the seed-based d mapping with permutation of subject images (SDM-PSI) software. RESULTS A systematic literature search identified 25 studies (33 data sets) of cortical thickness, including 2008 patients with schizophrenia and 2004 healthy controls. Overall, patients with schizophrenia showed decreased cortical thickness in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and bilateral insula extending to the superior temporal gyrus (STG). Subgroup meta-analysis reported that patients with chronic schizophrenia showed decreased cortical thickness in the right insula extending to the right IFG. There was no significant cortical thickness difference between first-episode patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. LIMITATIONS The results of meta-regression analyses should be viewed cautiously since they were driven by a small number of studies or did not overlap with the between-group differences found in the primary analyses. CONCLUSION The meta-analysis suggested robust cortical thickness reduction in the IFG, insula and STG among adult patients with schizophrenia, particularly in those with chronic schizophrenia. The results provide useful insights to understanding the underlying pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shilin Sun
- From the Medical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Institute of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Gong, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Department of Radiology, Six Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (Gong)
| | - Shu Xiao
- From the Medical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Institute of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Gong, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Department of Radiology, Six Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (Gong)
| | - Zixuan Guo
- From the Medical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Institute of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Gong, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Department of Radiology, Six Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (Gong)
| | - Jiaying Gong
- From the Medical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Institute of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Gong, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Department of Radiology, Six Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (Gong)
| | - Guixian Tang
- From the Medical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Institute of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Gong, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Department of Radiology, Six Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (Gong)
| | - Li Huang
- From the Medical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Institute of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Gong, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Department of Radiology, Six Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (Gong)
| | - Ying Wang
- From the Medical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Institute of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China (Sun, Xiao, Guo, Gong, Tang, Huang, Wang); the Department of Radiology, Six Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China (Gong)
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Shared Transdiagnostic Neuroanatomical Signatures Across First-episode Patients with Major Psychiatric Diseases and Individuals at Familial Risk. Neuroimage Clin 2022; 35:103074. [PMID: 35691252 PMCID: PMC9194955 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2022] [Revised: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nowadays, increasing evidence has found transdiagnostic neuroimaging biomarkers across major psychiatric disorders (MPDs). However, it remains to be known whether this transdiagnostic pattern of abnormalities could also be seen in individuals at familial high-risk for MPDs (FHR). We aimed to examine shared neuroanatomical endophenotypes and protective biomarkers for MPDs. METHODS This study examined brain grey matter volume (GMV) of individuals by voxel-based morphometry method. A total of 287 individuals were included, involving 100 first-episode medication-naive MPDs, 87 FHR, and 110 healthy controls (HC). They all underwent high-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). RESULTS At the group level, we found MPDs were characterized by decreased GMV in the right fusiform gyrus, the right inferior occipital gyrus, and the left anterior and middle cingulate gyri compared to HC and FHR. Of note, the GMV of the left superior temporal gyrus was increased in FHR relative to MPDs and HC. At the subgroup level, the comparisons within the FHR group did not return any significant difference, and we found GMV difference among subgroups within the MPDs group only in the opercular part of the right inferior frontal gyrus. CONCLUSION Together, our findings uncover common structural disturbances across MPDs and substantial changes in grey matter that may relate to high hereditary risk across FHR, potentially underscoring the importance of a transdiagnostic way to explore the neurobiological mechanisms of major psychiatric disorders.
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Teeuw J, Ori APS, Brouwer RM, de Zwarte SMC, Schnack HG, Hulshoff Pol HE, Ophoff RA. Accelerated aging in the brain, epigenetic aging in blood, and polygenic risk for schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2021; 231:189-197. [PMID: 33882370 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2021.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2020] [Revised: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Schizophrenia patients show signs of accelerated aging in cognitive and physiological domains. Both schizophrenia and accelerated aging, as measured by MRI brain images and epigenetic clocks, are correlated with increased mortality. However, the association between these aging measures have not yet been studied in schizophrenia patients. In schizophrenia patients and healthy subjects, accelerated aging was assessed in brain tissue using a longitudinal MRI (N = 715 scans; mean scan interval 3.4 year) and in blood using two epigenetic age clocks (N = 172). Differences ('gaps') between estimated ages and chronological ages were calculated, as well as the acceleration rate of brain aging. The correlations between these aging measures as well as with polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia (PRS; N = 394) were investigated. Brain aging and epigenetic aging were not significantly correlated. Polygenic risk for schizophrenia was significantly correlated with brain age gap, brain age acceleration rate, and negatively correlated with DNAmAge gap, but not with PhenoAge gap. However, after controlling for disease status and multiple comparisons correction, these effects were no longer significant. Our results imply that the (accelerated) aging observed in the brain and blood reflect distinct biological processes. Our findings will require replication in a larger cohort.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jalmar Teeuw
- Department of Psychiatry, UMC Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
| | - Anil P S Ori
- Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, United States
| | - Rachel M Brouwer
- Department of Psychiatry, UMC Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Sonja M C de Zwarte
- Department of Psychiatry, UMC Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Hugo G Schnack
- Department of Psychiatry, UMC Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Hilleke E Hulshoff Pol
- Department of Psychiatry, UMC Brain Center, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Roel A Ophoff
- Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
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Brain structural correlates of familial risk for mental illness: a meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies in relatives of patients with psychotic or mood disorders. Neuropsychopharmacology 2020; 45:1369-1379. [PMID: 32353861 PMCID: PMC7297956 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-020-0687-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2020] [Revised: 04/19/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Schizophrenia (SCZ), bipolar disorder (BD), and major depressive disorder (MDD) are heritable psychiatric disorders with partially overlapping genetic liability. Shared and disorder-specific neurobiological abnormalities associated with familial risk for developing mental illnesses are largely unknown. We performed a meta-analysis of structural brain imaging studies in relatives of patients with SCZ, BD, and MDD to identify overlapping and discrete brain structural correlates of familial risk for mental disorders. Search for voxel-based morphometry studies in relatives of patients with SCZ, BD, and MDD in PubMed and Embase identified 33 studies with 2292 relatives and 2052 healthy controls (HC). Seed-based d Mapping software was used to investigate global differences in gray matter volumes between relatives as a group versus HC, and between those of each psychiatric disorder and HC. As a group, relatives exhibited gray matter abnormalities in left supramarginal gyrus, right striatum, right inferior frontal gyrus, left thalamus, bilateral insula, right cerebellum, and right superior frontal gyrus, compared with HC. Decreased right cerebellar gray matter was the only abnormality common to relatives of all three conditions. Subgroup analyses showed disorder-specific gray matter abnormalities in left thalamus and bilateral insula associated with risk for SCZ, in left supramarginal gyrus and right frontal regions with risk for BD, and in right striatum with risk for MDD. While decreased gray matter in right cerebellum might be a common brain structural abnormality associated with shared risk for SCZ, BD, and MDD, regional gray matter abnormalities in neocortex, thalamus, and striatum appear to be disorder-specific.
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Caspi Y, Brouwer RM, Schnack HG, van de Nieuwenhuijzen ME, Cahn W, Kahn RS, Niessen WJ, van der Lugt A, Pol HH. Changes in the intracranial volume from early adulthood to the sixth decade of life: A longitudinal study. Neuroimage 2020; 220:116842. [PMID: 32339774 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2019] [Revised: 03/04/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Normal brain-aging occurs at all structural levels. Excessive pathophysiological changes in the brain, beyond the normal one, are implicated in the etiology of brain disorders such as severe forms of the schizophrenia spectrum and dementia. To account for brain-aging in health and disease, it is critical to study the age-dependent trajectories of brain biomarkers at various levels and among different age groups. The intracranial volume (ICV) is a key biological marker, and changes in the ICV during the lifespan can teach us about the biology of development, aging, and gene X environment interactions. However, whether ICV changes with age in adulthood is not resolved. Applying a semi-automatic in-house-built algorithm for ICV extraction on T1w MR brain scans in the Dutch longitudinal cohort (GROUP), we measured ICV changes. Individuals between the ages of 16 and 55 years were scanned up to three consecutive times with 3.32±0.32 years between consecutive scans (N = 482, 359, 302). Using the extracted ICVs, we calculated ICV longitudinal aging-trajectories based on three analysis methods; direct calculation of ICV differences between the first and the last scan, fitting all ICV measurements of individuals to a straight line, and applying a global linear mixed model fitting. We report statistically significant increase in the ICV in adulthood until the fourth decade of life (average change +0.03%/y, or about 0.5 ml/y, at age 20), and decrease in the ICV afterward (-0.09%/y, or about -1.2 ml/y, at age 55). To account for previous cross-sectional reports of ICV changes, we analyzed the same data using a cross-sectional approach. Our cross-sectional analysis detected ICV changes consistent with the previously reported cross-sectional effect. However, the reported amount of cross-sectional changes within this age range was significantly larger than the longitudinal changes. We attribute the cross-sectional results to a generational effect. In conclusion, the human intracranial volume does not stay constant during adulthood but instead shows a small increase during young adulthood and a decrease thereafter from the fourth decade of life. The age-related changes in the longitudinalmeasure are smaller than those reported using cross-sectional approaches and unlikely to affect structural brain imaging studies correcting for intracranial volume considerably. As to the possible mechanisms involved, this awaits further study, although thickening of the meninges and skull bones have been proposed, as well as a smaller amount of brain fluids addition above the overall loss of brain tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaron Caspi
- UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands.
| | - Rachel M Brouwer
- UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Hugo G Schnack
- UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | | | - Wiepke Cahn
- UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - René S Kahn
- UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Wiro J Niessen
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Aad van der Lugt
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Hilleke Hulshoff Pol
- UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands.
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Saarinen AIL, Huhtaniska S, Pudas J, Björnholm L, Jukuri T, Tohka J, Granö N, Barnett JH, Kiviniemi V, Veijola J, Hintsanen M, Lieslehto J. Structural and functional alterations in the brain gray matter among first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients: A multimodal meta-analysis of fMRI and VBM studies. Schizophr Res 2020; 216:14-23. [PMID: 31924374 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2019.12.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2019] [Revised: 12/20/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE We conducted a multimodal coordinate-based meta-analysis (CBMA) to investigate structural and functional brain alterations in first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients (FRs). METHODS We conducted a systematic literature search from electronic databases to find studies that examined differences between FRs and healthy controls using whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) or voxel-based morphometry (VBM). A CBMA of 30 fMRI (754 FRs; 959 controls) and 11 VBM (885 FRs; 775 controls) datasets were conducted using the anisotropic effect-size version of signed differential mapping. Further, we conducted separate meta-analyses about functional alterations in different cognitive tasks: social cognition, executive functioning, working memory, and inhibitory control. RESULTS FRs showed higher fMRI activation in the right frontal gyrus during cognitive tasks than healthy controls. In VBM studies, there were no differences in gray matter density between FRs and healthy controls. Furthermore, multi-modal meta-analysis obtained no differences between FRs and healthy controls. By utilizing the BrainMap database, we showed that the brain region which showed functional alterations in FRs (i) overlapped only slightly with the brain regions that were affected in the meta-analysis of schizophrenia patients and (ii) correlated positively with the brain regions that exhibited increased activity during cognitive tasks in healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS Based on this meta-analysis, FRs may exhibit only minor functional alterations in the brain during cognitive tasks, and the alterations are much more restricted and only slightly overlapping with the regions that are affected in schizophrenia patients. The familial risk did not relate to structural alterations in the gray matter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aino I L Saarinen
- Research Unit of Psychology, University of Oulu, Finland; Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland; Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland.
| | - Sanna Huhtaniska
- Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Finland
| | - Juho Pudas
- Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland
| | - Lassi Björnholm
- Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland
| | - Tuomas Jukuri
- Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland
| | - Jussi Tohka
- A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Niklas Granö
- Helsinki University Hospital, Department of Adolescent Psychiatry, Finland
| | - Jennifer H Barnett
- Cambridge Cognition, Cambridge, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Vesa Kiviniemi
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
| | - Juha Veijola
- Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | | | - Johannes Lieslehto
- Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Finland; Section for Neurodiagnostic Applications, Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig Maximilian University, Nussbaumstrasse 7, 80336 Munich, Bavaria, Germany
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Kuo SS, Pogue-Geile MF. Variation in fourteen brain structure volumes in schizophrenia: A comprehensive meta-analysis of 246 studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 98:85-94. [PMID: 30615934 PMCID: PMC6401304 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.12.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2018] [Revised: 11/21/2018] [Accepted: 12/31/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Despite hundreds of structural MRI studies documenting smaller brain volumes on average in schizophrenia compared to controls, little attention has been paid to group differences in the variability of brain volumes. Examination of variability may help interpret mean group differences in brain volumes and aid in better understanding the heterogeneity of schizophrenia. Variability in 246 MRI studies was meta-analyzed for 13 structures that have shown medium to large mean effect sizes (Cohen's d≥0.4): intracranial volume, total brain volume, lateral ventricles, third ventricle, total gray matter, frontal gray matter, prefrontal gray matter, temporal gray matter, superior temporal gyrus gray matter, planum temporale, hippocampus, fusiform gyrus, insula; and a control structure, caudate nucleus. No significant differences in variability in cortical/subcortical volumes were detected in schizophrenia relative to controls. In contrast, increased variability was found in schizophrenia compared to controls for intracranial and especially lateral and third ventricle volumes. These findings highlight the need for more attention to ventricles and detailed analyses of brain volume distributions to better elucidate the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan S Kuo
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 4209 Sennott Square, 210 South Bouquet St., Pittsburgh PA 15260, USA.
| | - Michael F Pogue-Geile
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 4209 Sennott Square, 210 South Bouquet St., Pittsburgh PA 15260, USA; Department of Psychology and Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 4207 Sennott Square, 210 South Bouquet St., Pittsburgh PA 15260, USA.
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Interhemispheric connectivity and hemispheric specialization in schizophrenia patients and their unaffected siblings. NEUROIMAGE-CLINICAL 2019; 21:101656. [PMID: 30660663 PMCID: PMC6412072 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2018] [Revised: 12/13/2018] [Accepted: 01/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Hemispheric integration and specialization are two prominent organizational principles for macroscopic brain function. Impairments of interhemispheric cooperation have been reported in schizophrenia patients, but whether such abnormalities should be attributed to effects of illness or familial risk remains inconclusive. Moreover, it is unclear how abnormalities in interhemispheric connectivity impact hemispheric specialization. To address these questions, we performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a large cohort of 253 participants, including 84 schizophrenia patients, 106 of their unaffected siblings and 63 healthy controls. Interhemispheric connectivity and hemispheric specialization were calculated from resting-state functional connectivity, and compared across groups. Results showed that schizophrenia patients exhibit lower interhemispheric connectivity as compared to controls and siblings. In addition, patients showed higher levels of hemispheric specialization as compared to siblings. Level of interhemispheric connectivity and hemispheric specialization correlated with duration of illness in patients. No significant alterations were identified in siblings relative to controls on both measurements. Furthermore, alterations in interhemispheric connectivity correlated with changes in hemispheric specialization in patients relative to controls and siblings. Taken together, these results suggest that lower interhemispheric connectivity and associated abnormalities in hemispheric specialization are features of established illness, rather than an expression of preexistent familial risk for schizophrenia.
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Konte B, Leicht G, Giegling I, Pogarell O, Karch S, Hartmann AM, Friedl M, Hegerl U, Rujescu D, Mulert C. A genome-wide association study of early gamma-band response in a schizophrenia case-control sample. World J Biol Psychiatry 2018; 19:602-609. [PMID: 28922980 DOI: 10.1080/15622975.2017.1366054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Disturbances in the gamma-frequency band of electroencephalography (EEG) measures are among the most consistently observed intermediate phenotypes in schizophrenia. We assessed whether genetic variations are associated with gamma-band activity. METHODS We performed a genome-wide association analysis of the early auditory evoked gamma-band response in schizophrenia affected subjects and healthy control individuals (in total N = 315). RESULTS No marker surpassed the threshold for genome-wide significant association. Several of the markers that were closest to significance mapped to genes involved in neuronal development and the Neuregulin-ErbB signalling network, such as NRG2 and KALRN. Using a gene-set enrichment analysis, we found suggestive evidence for association with genes involved in EEG abnormality (P = .048). CONCLUSIONS We identified no marker genome-wide significantly associating with gamma response; independent replication of the gene-set analysis result and larger sample sizes will be required to provide leads to cellular pathways involved in gamma-band activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bettina Konte
- a Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics , Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg , Halle , Germany
| | - Gregor Leicht
- b Psychiatry Neuroimaging Branch, Imaging Center NeuroImage Nord and Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf , Hamburg , Germany
| | - Ina Giegling
- a Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics , Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg , Halle , Germany
| | - Oliver Pogarell
- c Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , Ludwig-Maximilians-University , Munich , Germany
| | - Susanne Karch
- c Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , Ludwig-Maximilians-University , Munich , Germany
| | - Annette M Hartmann
- a Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics , Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg , Halle , Germany
| | - Marion Friedl
- a Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics , Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg , Halle , Germany
| | - Ulrich Hegerl
- d Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , University of Leipzig , Leipzig , Germany
| | - Dan Rujescu
- a Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics , Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg , Halle , Germany
| | - Christoph Mulert
- b Psychiatry Neuroimaging Branch, Imaging Center NeuroImage Nord and Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf , Hamburg , Germany
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de Nijs J, Schnack HG, Koevoets MGJC, Kubota M, Kahn RS, van Haren NEM, Cahn W. Reward-related brain structures are smaller in patients with schizophrenia and comorbid metabolic syndrome. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2018; 138:581-590. [PMID: 30264457 DOI: 10.1111/acps.12955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Metabolic syndrome (MS) is highly prevalent in schizophrenia and often a consequence of unhealthy behaviour. Reward-related brain areas might be associated with MS, since they play a major role in regulating health behaviour. This study examined the relationship between MS and brain volumes related to the reward system in schizophrenia. METHOD We included patients with schizophrenia, with MS (MS+; n = 23), patients with schizophrenia, without MS (MS-; n = 48), and healthy controls (n = 54). Global brain volumes and volumes of (sub)cortical areas, part of the reward circuit, were compared between patients and controls. In case of a significant brain volume difference between patients and controls, the impact of MS in schizophrenia was examined. RESULTS Patients had smaller total brain (TB; P = 0.001), GM (P = 0.010), larger ventricles (P = 0.026), and smaller reward circuit volume (P < 0.001) than controls. MS+ had smaller TB (P = 0.017), GM (P = 0.008), larger ventricles (P = 0.015), and smaller reward circuit volume (P = 0.002) than MS-. MS+ had smaller orbitofrontal cortex (OFC; P = 0.002) and insula volumes (P = 0.005) and smaller OFC (P = 0.008) and insula cortical surface area (P = 0.025) compared to MS-. CONCLUSION In schizophrenia, structural brain volume reductions in areas of the reward circuitry appear to be related to comorbid MS.
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Affiliation(s)
- J de Nijs
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - H G Schnack
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - M G J C Koevoets
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - M Kubota
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Department of Functional Brain Imaging Research, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, Chiba, Japan
| | - R S Kahn
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai, NY, USA
| | - N E M van Haren
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - W Cahn
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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11
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Caldiroli A, Buoli M, van Haren NEM, de Nijs J, Altamura AC, Cahn W. The relationship of IQ and emotional processing with insula volume in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2018; 202:141-148. [PMID: 29954697 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2018.06.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2018] [Revised: 06/19/2018] [Accepted: 06/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The insula is involved in general and social cognition, in particular emotion regulation. Aim of this study is to investigate whether insula volume is associated with Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and emotional processing in schizophrenia patients versus healthy controls (HC). METHODS Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans, IQ and emotional processing tests (Benton Facial Recognition Test [BFRT], Degraded Facial Affect Recognition Task [DFAR], Emotional Mentalizing Task [EMT]) were administered in 246 subjects (133 schizophrenia patients and 113 controls). First order linear regression analyses were performed with group as independent variable and IQ/emotional processing test scores as dependent variables. Second order stepwise linear regression analyses were performed with IQ/emotional processing test scores as independent variables (as well as intracranial volumes, age, gender and cannabis abuse) and right/left insula volumes as dependent ones. A final mediation analysis (Sobel test) was performed to verify if IQ or emotional processing test scores could explain the eventual differences in insula volumes between the two groups. RESULTS Schizophrenia patients presented lower insula volumes (left: F = 9.72, p < 0.01; right: F = 10.93, p < 0.01) as compared with healthy controls. Smaller insula volumes in schizophrenia patients are mediated by lower IQ scores (Sobel tests: 3.07, p < 0.01 for right insula; 2.72, p < 0.01 for left insula), but not by impairments in emotion processing. CONCLUSIONS IQ, but not emotional processing mediates smaller insula volumes in schizophrenia patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Caldiroli
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Milan, Fondazione IRCCS Ca'Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via F. Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy; University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, the Netherlands
| | - Massimiliano Buoli
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Milan, Fondazione IRCCS Ca'Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via F. Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy; University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, the Netherlands.
| | - Neeltje E M van Haren
- University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, the Netherlands; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jessica de Nijs
- University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, the Netherlands
| | - A Carlo Altamura
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Milan, Fondazione IRCCS Ca'Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via F. Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy
| | - Wiepke Cahn
- University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Psychiatry, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, the Netherlands
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Frissen A, van Os J, Peeters S, Gronenschild E, Marcelis M. Evidence that reduced gray matter volume in psychotic disorder is associated with exposure to environmental risk factors. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2018; 271:100-110. [PMID: 29174764 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2017.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2017] [Revised: 10/26/2017] [Accepted: 11/10/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine whether cannabis use, childhood trauma and urban upbringing are associated with total gray matter volume (GMV) in individuals with (risk for) psychotic disorder and whether this is sex-specific. T1-weighted MRI scans were acquired from 89 patients with a psychotic disorder, 95 healthy siblings of patients with psychotic disorder and 87 controls. Multilevel random regression analyses were used to examine main effects and interactions between group, sex and environmental factors in models of GMV. The three-way interaction between group, sex and cannabis (χ2 =12.43, p<0.01), as well as developmental urbanicity (χ2 = 6.29, p = 0.01) were significant, indicating that cannabis use and developmental urbanicity were associated with lower GMV in the male patient group (cannabis: B= -32.54, p < 0.01; developmental urbanicity: B= -10.23, p=0.03). For childhood trauma, the two-way interaction with group was significant (χ2 = 5.74, p = 0.02), indicating that childhood trauma was associated with reduced GMV in the patient group (B=-9.79, p=0.01). The findings suggest that reduction of GMV in psychotic disorder may be the outcome of differential sensitivity to environmental risks, particularly in male patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleida Frissen
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
| | - Jim van Os
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; King's College London, King's Health Partners, Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sanne Peeters
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
| | - Ed Gronenschild
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
| | - Machteld Marcelis
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
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Frissen A, van Os J, Lieverse R, Habets P, Gronenschild E, Marcelis M. No Evidence of Association between Childhood Urban Environment and Cortical Thinning in Psychotic Disorder. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0166651. [PMID: 28045900 PMCID: PMC5207533 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2016] [Accepted: 11/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The alterations in cortical morphology, such as cortical thinning, observed in psychotic disorder, may be the outcome of interacting genetic and environmental effects. It has been suggested that urban upbringing may represent a proxy environmental effect impacting cortical thickness (CT). Therefore, the current study examined whether the association between group as a proxy genetic variable (patients with psychotic disorder [high genetic risk], healthy siblings of patients [intermediate risk] and healthy control subjects [average risk]) and CT was conditional on different levels of the childhood urban environment and whether this was sex-dependent. Methods T1-weighted MRI scans were acquired from 89 patients with a psychotic disorder, 95 non-psychotic siblings of patients with psychotic disorder and 87 healthy control subjects. Freesurfer software was used to measure CT. Developmental urban exposure was classified as low, medium, and high, reflecting the population density and the number of moves between birth and the 15th birthday, using data from the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics and the equivalent database in Belgium. Multilevel regression analyses were used to examine the association between group, sex, and urban upbringing (as well as their interactions) and cortical CT as the dependent variable. Results CT was significantly smaller in the patient group compared to the controls (B = -0.043, p <0.001), but not in the siblings compared to the controls (B = -0.013, p = 0.31). There was no main effect of developmental urbanicity on CT (B = 0.001, p = 0.91). Neither the three-way group × urbanicity × sex interaction (χ2 = 3.73, p = 0.16), nor the two-way group × urbanicity interaction was significant (χ2 = 0.51, p = 0.77). Conclusion The negative association between (familial risk for) psychotic disorder and CT was not moderated by developmental urbanicity, suggesting that reduced CT is not the outcome of familial sensitivity to the proxy environmental factor ‘urban upbringing’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleida Frissen
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Jim van Os
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ritsaert Lieverse
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Petra Habets
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Ed Gronenschild
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Machteld Marcelis
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
- Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- * E-mail:
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Neuroimaging findings from childhood onset schizophrenia patients and their non-psychotic siblings. Schizophr Res 2016; 173:124-131. [PMID: 25819937 PMCID: PMC4583796 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2015.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2014] [Revised: 02/26/2015] [Accepted: 03/02/2015] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Childhood onset schizophrenia (COS), with onset of psychosis before age 13, is a rare form of schizophrenia that represents a more severe and chronic form of the adult onset illness. In this review we examine structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of COS and non-psychotic siblings of COS patients in the context of studies of schizophrenia as a whole. Studies of COS to date reveal progressive loss of gray matter volume and cortical thinning, ventricular enlargement, progressive decline in cerebellar volume and a significant but fixed deficit in hippocampal volume. COS is also associated with a slower rate of white matter growth and disrupted local connectivity strength. Sibling studies indicate that non-psychotic siblings of COS patients share many of these brain abnormalities, including decreased cortical thickness and disrupted white matter growth, yet these abnormalities normalize with age. Cross-sectional and longitudinal neuroimaging studies remain some of the few methods for assessing human brain function and play a pivotal role in the quest for understanding the neurobiology of schizophrenia as well as other psychiatric disorders. Parallel studies in non-psychotic siblings provide a unique opportunity to understand both risk and resilience in schizophrenia.
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16
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van Erp TGM, Hibar DP, Rasmussen JM, Glahn DC, Pearlson GD, Andreassen OA, Agartz I, Westlye LT, Haukvik UK, Dale AM, Melle I, Hartberg CB, Gruber O, Kraemer B, Zilles D, Donohoe G, Kelly S, McDonald C, Morris DW, Cannon DM, Corvin A, Machielsen MWJ, Koenders L, de Haan L, Veltman DJ, Satterthwaite TD, Wolf DH, Gur RC, Gur RE, Potkin SG, Mathalon DH, Mueller BA, Preda A, Macciardi F, Ehrlich S, Walton E, Hass J, Calhoun VD, Bockholt HJ, Sponheim SR, Shoemaker JM, van Haren NEM, Pol HEH, Ophoff RA, Kahn RS, Roiz-Santiañez R, Crespo-Facorro B, Wang L, Alpert KI, Jönsson EG, Dimitrova R, Bois C, Whalley HC, McIntosh AM, Lawrie SM, Hashimoto R, Thompson PM, Turner JA. Subcortical brain volume abnormalities in 2028 individuals with schizophrenia and 2540 healthy controls via the ENIGMA consortium. Mol Psychiatry 2016; 21:547-53. [PMID: 26033243 PMCID: PMC4668237 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2015.63] [Citation(s) in RCA: 613] [Impact Index Per Article: 76.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2014] [Revised: 03/05/2015] [Accepted: 03/18/2015] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The profile of brain structural abnormalities in schizophrenia is still not fully understood, despite decades of research using brain scans. To validate a prospective meta-analysis approach to analyzing multicenter neuroimaging data, we analyzed brain MRI scans from 2028 schizophrenia patients and 2540 healthy controls, assessed with standardized methods at 15 centers worldwide. We identified subcortical brain volumes that differentiated patients from controls, and ranked them according to their effect sizes. Compared with healthy controls, patients with schizophrenia had smaller hippocampus (Cohen's d=-0.46), amygdala (d=-0.31), thalamus (d=-0.31), accumbens (d=-0.25) and intracranial volumes (d=-0.12), as well as larger pallidum (d=0.21) and lateral ventricle volumes (d=0.37). Putamen and pallidum volume augmentations were positively associated with duration of illness and hippocampal deficits scaled with the proportion of unmedicated patients. Worldwide cooperative analyses of brain imaging data support a profile of subcortical abnormalities in schizophrenia, which is consistent with that based on traditional meta-analytic approaches. This first ENIGMA Schizophrenia Working Group study validates that collaborative data analyses can readily be used across brain phenotypes and disorders and encourages analysis and data sharing efforts to further our understanding of severe mental illness.
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Affiliation(s)
- T G M van Erp
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - D P Hibar
- Imaging Genetics Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - J M Rasmussen
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - D C Glahn
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Olin Neuropsychiatric Research Center, Institute of Living, Hartford, CT, USA
| | - G D Pearlson
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Olin Neuropsychiatric Research Center, Institute of Living, Hartford, CT, USA
| | - O A Andreassen
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - I Agartz
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - L T Westlye
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - U K Haukvik
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - A M Dale
- MMIL, Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
- Department of Cognitive Science, Neurosciences and Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - I Melle
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - C B Hartberg
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - O Gruber
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - B Kraemer
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - D Zilles
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Center for Translational Research in Systems Neuroscience and Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Georg August University, Göttingen, Germany
| | - G Donohoe
- Cognitive Genetics and Therapy Group, School of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
- Neuropsychiatric Genetics research group, Department of Psychiatry and Trinity College Institute of Psychiatry, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - S Kelly
- Imaging Genetics Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Neuropsychiatric Genetics research group, Department of Psychiatry and Trinity College Institute of Psychiatry, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - C McDonald
- Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
| | - D W Morris
- Cognitive Genetics and Therapy Group, School of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
- Neuropsychiatric Genetics research group, Department of Psychiatry and Trinity College Institute of Psychiatry, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - D M Cannon
- Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
| | - A Corvin
- Neuropsychiatric Genetics research group, Department of Psychiatry and Trinity College Institute of Psychiatry, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
| | - M W J Machielsen
- Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - L Koenders
- Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - L de Haan
- Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - D J Veltman
- University Medical Center, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - T D Satterthwaite
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - D H Wolf
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - R C Gur
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - R E Gur
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - S G Potkin
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - D H Mathalon
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - B A Mueller
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - A Preda
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - F Macciardi
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - S Ehrlich
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Technische Universität, Dresden, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- MGH/MIT/HMS Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
| | - E Walton
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Technische Universität, Dresden, Germany
| | - J Hass
- Translational Developmental Neuroscience Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Technische Universität, Dresden, Germany
| | - V D Calhoun
- Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, NM, USA
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - H J Bockholt
- Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, NM, USA
- Advanced Biomedical Informatics Group, LLC, Iowa City, IA, USA
- The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - S R Sponheim
- Minneapolis VA Healthcare System & Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, MN, USA
| | | | - N E M van Haren
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - H E H Pol
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - R A Ophoff
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - R S Kahn
- Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - R Roiz-Santiañez
- Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, School of Medicine, University of Cantabria-IDIVAL, Santander, Spain
- CIBERSAM, Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Madrid, Spain
| | - B Crespo-Facorro
- Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, School of Medicine, University of Cantabria-IDIVAL, Santander, Spain
- CIBERSAM, Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Madrid, Spain
| | - L Wang
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
- Department of Radiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - K I Alpert
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - E G Jönsson
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - R Dimitrova
- Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK
| | - C Bois
- Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK
| | - H C Whalley
- Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK
| | - A M McIntosh
- Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK
| | - S M Lawrie
- Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK
| | - R Hashimoto
- Molecular Research Center for Children's Mental Development, United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
| | - P M Thompson
- Imaging Genetics Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - J A Turner
- Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, NM, USA
- Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
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Watsky RE, Pollard KL, Greenstein D, Shora L, Dillard-Broadnax D, Gochman P, Clasen LS, Berman RA, Rapoport JL, Gogtay N, Ordóñez AE. Severity of Cortical Thinning Correlates With Schizophrenia Spectrum Symptoms. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2016; 55:130-136. [PMID: 26802780 PMCID: PMC4724380 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2015.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2015] [Revised: 11/06/2015] [Accepted: 11/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study investigated the relationship between regional cortical gray matter thinning and symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum personality disorders (PDs) in siblings of patients with childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS). METHOD A total of 66 siblings of patients with COS were assessed for symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum PDs (avoidant, paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal). Structural magnetic resonance images were obtained at approximately 2-year intervals from the siblings and from 62 healthy volunteers matched for age, sex, ethnicity, and handedness. Cortical thickness measures were extracted. Mixed effect regression models were used to test the relationship between symptoms and cortical gray matter thickness in siblings. Cortical thinning was also tested longitudinally in healthy volunteers and siblings. RESULTS Cortical thinning was found to correlate with symptoms of schizotypal and, to a lesser extent, schizoid PDs. Thinning was most pronounced in the left temporal and parietal lobes and right frontal and parietal regions. Gray matter loss was found to be continuous with that measured in COS. Longitudinal thinning trajectories were found not to differ between siblings and healthy volunteers. CONCLUSION The present investigation of cortical thinning in siblings of patients with COS indicates that symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum PDs correlate with regional gray matter loss. This finding supports the idea of cortical thinning as a schizophrenia endophenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca E Watsky
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
| | | | - Deanna Greenstein
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
| | - Lorie Shora
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
| | - Diane Dillard-Broadnax
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
| | - Peter Gochman
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
| | - Liv S Clasen
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
| | - Rebecca A Berman
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
| | - Judith L Rapoport
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
| | - Nitin Gogtay
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
| | - Anna E Ordóñez
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health
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Maat A, van Haren NEM, Bartholomeusz CF, Kahn RS, Cahn W. Emotion recognition and theory of mind are related to gray matter volume of the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2016; 26:255-264. [PMID: 26711688 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2015.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2015] [Revised: 11/23/2015] [Accepted: 12/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Investigations of social cognition in schizophrenia have demonstrated consistent impairments compared to healthy controls. Functional imaging studies in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls have revealed that social cognitive processing depends critically on the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, the relationship between social cognition and structural brain abnormalities in these regions in schizophrenia patients is less well understood. Measures of facial emotion recognition and theory of mind (ToM), two key social cognitive abilities, as well as face perception and IQ, were assessed in 166 patients with schizophrenia and 134 healthy controls. MRI brain scans were acquired. Automated parcellation of the brain to determine gray matter volume of the amygdala and the superior, middle, inferior and orbital PFC was performed. Between-group analyses showed poorer recognition of angry faces and ToM performance, and decreased amygdala and PFC gray matter volumes in schizophrenia patients as compared to healthy controls. Moreover, in schizophrenia patients, recognition of angry faces was associated with inferior PFC gray matter volume, particularly the pars triangularis (p=0.006), with poor performance being related to reduced pars triangularis gray matter volume. In addition, ToM ability was related to PFC gray matter volume, particularly middle PFC (p=0.001), in that poor ToM skills in schizophrenia patients were associated with reduced middle PFC gray matter volume. In conclusion, reduced PFC, but not amygdala, gray matter volume is associated with social cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arija Maat
- Department of Psychiatry, Waterland Ziekenhuis, Waterlandlaan 250, 1441 RN Purmerend, The Netherlands
| | - Neeltje E M van Haren
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht - Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Huispostnummer A 00.241, Postbus 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Cali F Bartholomeusz
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Center, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, 161 Barry Street, Carlton South, Victoria 3053, Australia
| | - René S Kahn
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht - Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Huispostnummer A 00.241, Postbus 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Wiepke Cahn
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht - Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Huispostnummer A 00.241, Postbus 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands.
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Goghari VM, Truong W, Spilka MJ. A magnetic resonance imaging family study of cortical thickness in schizophrenia. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 2015; 168:660-8. [PMID: 26235705 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.b.32354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2015] [Accepted: 07/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Schizophrenia is associated with abnormalities in cortical thickness, including both thicker and thinner cortices than controls. Although less reliably than in patients, non-psychotic relatives of schizophrenia patients have also demonstrated both thicker and thinner cortices than controls, suggesting an effect of familial or genetic liability. We investigated cortical thickness in 25 schizophrenia patients, 26 adult non-psychotic first-degree biological relatives, and 23 community controls using the automated program FreeSurfer. Contrary to hypotheses, we found relatives of schizophrenia patients had greater cortical thickness in all lobes compared to patients and controls; however, this finding was not as widespread when compared to controls. In contrast, schizophrenia patients only demonstrated a thinner right fusiform region than controls and relatives. Our finding of greater thickness in adult biological relatives could represent a maladaptive abnormality or alternatively, a compensatory mechanism. Previous literature suggests that the nature of abnormalities in relatives can vary by the age of relatives and change across the developmental period. Abnormalities in patients may depend on lifestyle factors and on current and previous anti-psychotic medication use. Our results speak to the need to study various populations of patients and relatives across the lifespan to better understand different developmental periods and the impact of environmental factors. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vina M Goghari
- Department of Psychology, Clinical Neuroscience of Schizophrenia (CNS) Laboratory, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Wanda Truong
- Department of Psychology, Clinical Neuroscience of Schizophrenia (CNS) Laboratory, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Michael J Spilka
- Department of Psychology, Clinical Neuroscience of Schizophrenia (CNS) Laboratory, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Grey matter networks in people at increased familial risk for schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2015; 168:1-8. [PMID: 26330380 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2015.08.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2015] [Revised: 08/12/2015] [Accepted: 08/20/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Grey matter brain networks are disrupted in schizophrenia, but it is still unclear at which point during the development of the illness these disruptions arise and whether these can be associated with behavioural predictors of schizophrenia. We investigated if single-subject grey matter networks were disrupted in a sample of people at familial risk of schizophrenia. Single-subject grey matter networks were extracted from structural MRI scans of 144 high risk subjects, 32 recent-onset patients and 36 healthy controls. The following network properties were calculated: size, connectivity density, degree, path length, clustering coefficient, betweenness centrality and small world properties. People at risk of schizophrenia showed decreased path length and clustering in mostly prefrontal and temporal areas. Within the high risk sample, the path length of the posterior cingulate cortex and the betweenness centrality of the left inferior frontal operculum explained 81% of the variance in schizotypal cognitions, which was previously shown to be the strongest behavioural predictor of schizophrenia in the study. In contrast, local grey matter volume measurements explained 48% of variance in schizotypy. The present results suggest that single-subject grey matter networks can quantify behaviourally relevant biological alterations in people at increased risk for schizophrenia before disease onset.
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21
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The role of the thalamus in schizophrenia from a neuroimaging perspective. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 54:57-75. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 122] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2014] [Revised: 12/19/2014] [Accepted: 01/12/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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Nenadic I, Yotter RA, Sauer H, Gaser C. Patterns of cortical thinning in different subgroups of schizophrenia. Br J Psychiatry 2015; 206:479-83. [PMID: 25657354 DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.114.148510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2014] [Accepted: 09/29/2014] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alterations of cortical thickness have been shown in imaging studies of schizophrenia but it is unclear to what extent they are related to disease phenotype (including symptom profile) or other aspects such as genetic liability, disease onset and disease progression. AIMS To test the hypothesis that cortical thinning would vary across different subgroups of patients with chronic schizophrenia, delineated according to their symptom profiles. METHOD We compared high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging data of 87 patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia with 108 controls to detect changes in cortical thickness across the entire brain (P<0.05, false discovery rate-adjusted). The patient group was divided into three subgroups, consisting of patients with predominantly negative, disorganised or paranoid symptoms. RESULTS The negative symptoms subgroup showed the most extensive cortical thinning, whereas thinning in the other subgroups was focused in prefrontal and temporal cortical subregions. CONCLUSIONS Our findings support growing evidence of potential subtypes of schizophrenia that have different brain structural deficit profiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor Nenadic
- Igor Nenadic, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Rachel A. Yotter, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany, and Section of Biomedical Image Analysis, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA; Heinrich Sauer, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Christian Gaser, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Rachel A Yotter
- Igor Nenadic, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Rachel A. Yotter, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany, and Section of Biomedical Image Analysis, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA; Heinrich Sauer, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Christian Gaser, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Heinrich Sauer
- Igor Nenadic, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Rachel A. Yotter, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany, and Section of Biomedical Image Analysis, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA; Heinrich Sauer, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Christian Gaser, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
| | - Christian Gaser
- Igor Nenadic, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Rachel A. Yotter, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany, and Section of Biomedical Image Analysis, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA; Heinrich Sauer, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Christian Gaser, PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy and Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
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van der Velde J, Gromann PM, Swart M, de Haan L, Wiersma D, Bruggeman R, Krabbendam L, Aleman A. Grey matter, an endophenotype for schizophrenia? A voxel-based morphometry study in siblings of patients with schizophrenia. J Psychiatry Neurosci 2015; 40:207-13. [PMID: 25768029 PMCID: PMC4409438 DOI: 10.1503/jpn.140064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Grey matter, both volume and concentration, has been proposed as an endophenotype for schizophrenia given a number of reports of grey matter abnormalities in relatives of patients with schizophrenia. However, previous studies on grey matter abnormalities in relatives have produced inconsistent results. The aim of the present study was to examine grey matter differences between controls and siblings of patients with schizophrenia and to examine whether the age, genetic loading or subclinical psychotic symptoms of selected individuals could explain the previously reported inconsistencies. METHODS We compared the grey matter volume and grey matter concentration of healthy siblings of patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls matched for age, sex and education using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Furthermore, we selected subsamples based on age (< 30 yr), genetic loading and subclinical psychotic symptoms to examine whether this would lead to different results. RESULTS We included 89 siblings and 69 controls in our study. The results showed that siblings and controls did not differ significantly on grey matter volume or concentration. Furthermore, specifically selecting participants based on age, genetic loading or subclinical psychotic symptoms did not alter these findings. LIMITATIONS The main limitation was that subdividing the sample resulted in smaller samples for the subanalyses. Furthermore, we used MRI data from 2 different scanner sites. CONCLUSION These results indicate that grey matter measured through VBM might not be a suitable endophenotype for schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorien van der Velde
- Correspondence to: J van der Velde, Department of Neuroscience, Neuroimaging Center, UMCG-O&O, P.O. Box 196, 9700 AD Groningen, The Netherlands;
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Roalf DR, Vandekar SN, Almasy L, Ruparel K, Satterthwaite TD, Elliott MA, Podell J, Gallagher S, Jackson CT, Prasad K, Wood J, Pogue-Geile MF, Nimgaonkar VL, Gur RC, Gur RE. Heritability of subcortical and limbic brain volume and shape in multiplex-multigenerational families with schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry 2015; 77:137-46. [PMID: 24976379 PMCID: PMC4247350 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2013] [Revised: 04/25/2014] [Accepted: 05/21/2014] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Brain abnormalities of subcortical and limbic nuclei are common in patients with schizophrenia, and variation in these structures is considered a putative endophenotype for the disorder. Multiplex-multigenerational families with schizophrenia provide an opportunity to investigate the impact of shared genetic ancestry, but these families have not been previously examined to study structural brain abnormalities. We estimate the heritability of subcortical and hippocampal brain volumes in multiplex-multigenerational families and the heritability of subregions using advanced shape analysis. METHODS The study comprised 439 participants from two sites who underwent 3T structural magnetic resonance imaging. The participants included 190 European-Americans from 32 multiplex-multigenerational families with schizophrenia and 249 healthy comparison subjects. Subcortical and hippocampal volume and shape were measured in 14 brain structures. Heritability was estimated for volume and shape. RESULTS Volume and shape were heritable in families. Estimates of heritability in subcortical and limbic volumes ranged from .45 in the right hippocampus to .84 in the left putamen. The shape of these structures was heritable (range, .40-.49), and specific subregional shape estimates of heritability tended to exceed heritability estimates of volume alone. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate that volume and shape of subcortical and limbic brain structures are potential endophenotypic markers in schizophrenia. The specificity obtained using shape analysis may improve selection of imaging phenotypes that better reflect the underlying neurobiology. Our findings can aid in the identification of specific genetic targets that affect brain structure and function in schizophrenia.
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Heering HD, Koevoets GJC, Koenders L, Machielsen MWJ, Meijer CJ, Kubota M, de Nijs J, Cahn W, Hulshoff Pol HE, de Haan L, Kahn RS, van Haren NEM. Structural MRI Differences between Patients with and without First Rank Symptoms: A Delusion? Front Psychiatry 2015; 6:107. [PMID: 26283974 PMCID: PMC4518139 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2015] [Accepted: 07/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE It has been suggested that specific psychotic symptom clusters may be explained by patterns of biological abnormalities. The presence of first rank symptoms (FRS) has been associated with cognitive abnormalities, e.g., deficits in self-monitoring or in the experience of agency, suggesting that a specific network of neural abnormalities might underlie FRS. Here, we investigate differences in cortical and subcortical brain volume between patients with and without FRS. METHODS Three independent patient samples (referred to as A, B, and C) with different mean ages and in different illness stages were included, leading to a total of 348 patients within the schizophrenia-spectrum. All underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. In addition, the presence of FRS was established using a diagnostic interview. Patients with (FRS+, A: n = 63, B: n = 129, and C: n = 96) and without FRS (FRS-, A: n = 35, B: n = 17, and C: n = 8) were compared on global and local cortical volumes as well as subcortical volumes, using a whole brain (cerebrum) approach. RESULTS Nucleus accumbens volume was significantly smaller in FRS+ as compared with FRS- in sample A (p < 0.005). Furthermore, FRS+ showed a smaller volume of the pars-opercularis relative to FRS- in sample B (p < 0.001). No further significant differences were found in cortical and subcortical volumes between FRS+ and FRS- in either one of the three samples after correction for multiple comparison. CONCLUSION Brain volume differences between patients with and without FRS are, when present, subtle, and not consistent between three independent samples. Brain abnormalities related to FRS may be too subtle to become visible through structural brain imaging.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Laura Koenders
- Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre , Amsterdam , Netherlands
| | | | - Carin J Meijer
- Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre , Amsterdam , Netherlands
| | - Manabu Kubota
- Brain Centre Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Centre Utrecht , Utrecht , Netherlands
| | - Jessica de Nijs
- Brain Centre Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Centre Utrecht , Utrecht , Netherlands
| | - Wiepke Cahn
- Brain Centre Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Centre Utrecht , Utrecht , Netherlands
| | | | - Lieuwe de Haan
- Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre , Amsterdam , Netherlands
| | - Rene S Kahn
- Brain Centre Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Centre Utrecht , Utrecht , Netherlands
| | - Neeltje E M van Haren
- Brain Centre Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Centre Utrecht , Utrecht , Netherlands
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26
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Cooper D, Barker V, Radua J, Fusar-Poli P, Lawrie SM. Multimodal voxel-based meta-analysis of structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in those at elevated genetic risk of developing schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res 2014; 221:69-77. [PMID: 24239093 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2013.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2012] [Revised: 07/03/2013] [Accepted: 07/25/2013] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Computational brain-imaging studies of individuals at familial high risk for psychosis have provided interesting results, but interpreting these findings can be a challenge due to a number of factors. We searched the literature for studies reporting whole brain voxel-based morphometry (VBM) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) findings in people at familial high risk for schizophrenia compared with a control group. A voxel-wise meta-analysis with the effect-size version of Signed Differential Mapping (ES-SDM) identified regional abnormalities of functional brain response. Similarly, an ES-SDM meta-analysis was conducted on VBM studies. A multi-modal imaging meta-analysis was used to highlight brain regions with both structural and functional abnormalities. Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria, in which a total of 815 familial high-risk individuals were compared to 685 controls. Our fMRI results revealed a number of regions of altered activation. VBM findings demonstrated both increases and decreases in grey matter density of relatives in a variety of brain regions. The multimodal analysis revealed relatives had decreased grey matter with hyper-activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus/amygdala, and decreased grey matter with hypo-activation in the thalamus. We found several regions of altered activation or structure in familial high-risk individuals. Reliable fMRI findings in the right posterior superior temporal gyrus further confirm that alteration in this area is a potential marker of risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deborah Cooper
- Division of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences, Kennedy Tower, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside, Edinburgh, EH10 5HF, UK.
| | - Victoria Barker
- Division of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences, Kennedy Tower, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside, Edinburgh, EH10 5HF, UK
| | - Joaquim Radua
- Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK; FIDMAG Research Unit, CIBERSAM, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Stephen M Lawrie
- Division of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Sciences, Kennedy Tower, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside, Edinburgh, EH10 5HF, UK
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27
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Schnack HG, van Haren NEM, Brouwer RM, Evans A, Durston S, Boomsma DI, Kahn RS, Hulshoff Pol HE. Changes in Thickness and Surface Area of the Human Cortex and Their Relationship with Intelligence. Cereb Cortex 2014; 25:1608-17. [PMID: 24408955 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bht357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 234] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Hugo G Schnack
- Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Brain Division, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Neeltje E M van Haren
- Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Brain Division, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Rachel M Brouwer
- Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Brain Division, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Alan Evans
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 2B4 and
| | - Sarah Durston
- Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Brain Division, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Dorret I Boomsma
- Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - René S Kahn
- Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Brain Division, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Hilleke E Hulshoff Pol
- Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Brain Division, University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands
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28
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Sprooten E, Papmeyer M, Smyth AM, Vincenz D, Honold S, Conlon GA, Moorhead TWJ, Job D, Whalley HC, Hall J, McIntosh AM, Owens DCG, Johnstone EC, Lawrie SM. Cortical thickness in first-episode schizophrenia patients and individuals at high familial risk: a cross-sectional comparison. Schizophr Res 2013; 151:259-64. [PMID: 24120958 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2013.09.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2013] [Revised: 09/13/2013] [Accepted: 09/27/2013] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Schizophrenia is associated with cortical thickness reductions in the brain, but it is unclear whether these are present before illness onset, and to what extent they are driven by genetic factors. METHODS In the Edinburgh High Risk Study, structural MRI scans of 150 young individuals at high familial risk for schizophrenia, 34 patients with first-episode schizophrenia and 36 matched controls were acquired, and clinical information was collected for the following 10 years for the high-risk and control group. During this time, 17 high-risk individuals developed schizophrenia, on average 2.5 years after the scan, and 57 experienced isolated or sub-clinical psychotic symptoms. We applied surface-based analysis of the cerebral cortex to this cohort, and extracted cortical thickness in automatically parcellated regions. RESULTS Analysis of variance revealed widespread thinning of the cerebral cortex in first-episode patients, most pronounced in superior frontal, medial parietal, and lateral occipital regions (corrected p<10(-4)). In contrast, cortical thickness reductions were only found in high-risk individuals in the left middle temporal gyrus (corrected p<0.05). There were no significant differences between those at high risk who later developed schizophrenia and those who remained well. CONCLUSIONS These findings confirm cortical thickness reductions in schizophrenia patients. Increased familial risk for schizophrenia is associated with thinning in the left middle temporal lobe, irrespective of subsequent disease onset. The absence of widespread cortical thinning before disease onset implies that the cortical thinning is unlikely to simply reflect genetic liability to schizophrenia but is predominantly driven by disease-associated factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Sprooten
- Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Olin Neuropsychiatry Center, Institute of Living, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT, USA
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Xiao Y, Zhang W, Lui S, Yao L, Gong Q. Similar and different gray matter deficits in schizophrenia patients and their unaffected biological relatives. Front Psychiatry 2013; 4:150. [PMID: 24319433 PMCID: PMC3836186 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2013.00150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2013] [Accepted: 11/07/2013] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuroimaging studies have revealed significant reductions in the gray matter (GM) of several brain regions in patients with schizophrenia, a neuropsychiatric disorder with high hereditability. However, it is unclear whether unaffected relatives have GM abnormalities in common with their affected relatives, which may relate to susceptibility to developing schizophrenia. To address this issue, we conducted two separate meta-analyses of voxel-based morphometry to investigate GM abnormalities in schizophrenia patients and their unaffected relatives. One meta-analysis compared a patient group with healthy controls, whereas the other meta-analysis compared the unaffected relatives with healthy controls. Eight studies comprising 495 patients with schizophrenia, 584 unaffected relatives of patients, and 596 healthy controls were systematically included in the present study. Compared to healthy controls, the patient group showed decreased GM in the right cuneus, the right superior frontal gyrus, the right insula and the left claustrum, and increased GM in the bilateral putamen, the right parahippocampal gyrus, the left precentral gyrus, the left inferior temporal gyri, and the right cerebellar tonsil. The comparison between unaffected relatives and healthy controls showed a GM reduction in the left claustrum, the bilateral parahippocampal gyri, the left fusiform gyrus, the right inferior temporal gyrus, and the bilateral medial prefrontal cortices, whereas increased GM was observed in the right hippocampus, the right fusiform gyrus, the right precentral gyrus, and the right precuneus. Thus, our meta-analyses show that the GM changes in schizophrenia patients and their unaffected relatives are largely different, although there is subtle overlap in some regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Xiao
- Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu , China
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Mandl RCW, Brouwer RM, Cahn W, Kahn RS, Hulshoff Pol HE. Family-wise automatic classification in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2013; 149:108-11. [PMID: 23876264 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2013.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2013] [Revised: 06/05/2013] [Accepted: 07/01/2013] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Automatic classification of individuals at increased risk for schizophrenia can become an important screening method that allows for early intervention based on disease markers, if proven to be sufficiently accurate. Conventional classification methods typically consider information from single subjects, thereby ignoring (heritable) features of the person's relatives. In this paper we show that the inclusion of these features can lead to an increase in classification accuracy from 0.54 to 0.72 using a support vector machine model. This inclusion of contextual information is especially useful in diseases where the classification features carry a heritable component.
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Affiliation(s)
- René C W Mandl
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, The Netherlands.
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Exercise therapy, cardiorespiratory fitness and their effect on brain volumes: a randomised controlled trial in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2013; 23:675-85. [PMID: 22981376 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2012.08.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 101] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2012] [Revised: 08/04/2012] [Accepted: 08/06/2012] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The objective of this study was to examine exercise effects on global brain volume, hippocampal volume, and cortical thickness in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. Irrespective of diagnosis and intervention, associations between brain changes and cardiorespiratory fitness improvement were examined. Sixty-three schizophrenia patients and fifty-five healthy controls participated in this randomised controlled trial. Global brain volumes, hippocampal volume, and cortical thickness were estimated from 3-Tesla MRI scans. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed with a cardiopulmonary ergometer test. Subjects were assigned exercise therapy or occupational therapy (patients) and exercise therapy or life-as-usual (healthy controls) for six months 2h weekly. Exercise therapy effects were analysed for subjects who were compliant at least 50% of sessions offered. Significantly smaller baseline cerebral (grey) matter, and larger third ventricle volumes, and thinner cortex in most areas of the brain were found in patients versus controls. Exercise therapy did not affect global brain and hippocampal volume or cortical thickness in patients and controls. Cardiorespiratory fitness improvement was related to increased cerebral matter volume and lateral and third ventricle volume decrease in patients and to thickening in the left hemisphere in large areas of the frontal, temporal and cingulate cortex irrespective of diagnosis. One to 2h of exercise therapy did not elicit significant brain volume changes in patients or controls. However, cardiorespiratory fitness improvement attenuated brain volume changes in schizophrenia patients and increased thickness in large areas of the left cortex in both schizophrenia patients and healthy controls.
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Heritability of subcortical brain measures: a perspective for future genome-wide association studies. Neuroimage 2013; 83:98-102. [PMID: 23770413 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.06.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2013] [Revised: 05/31/2013] [Accepted: 06/07/2013] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Several large imaging-genetics consortia aim to identify genetic variants influencing subcortical brain volumes. We investigated the extent to which genetic variation accounts for the variation in subcortical volumes, including thalamus, amygdala, putamen, caudate nucleus, globus pallidus and nucleus accumbens and obtained the stability of these brain volumes over a five-year period. The heritability estimates for all subcortical regions were high, with the highest heritability estimates observed for the thalamus (.80) and caudate nucleus (.88) and lowest for the left nucleus accumbens (.44). Five-year stability was substantial and higher for larger [e.g., thalamus (.88), putamen (.86), caudate nucleus (.87)] compared to smaller [nucleus accumbens (.45)] subcortical structures. These results provide additional evidence that subcortical structures are promising starting points for identifying genetic variants that influence brain structure.
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Moran ME, Hulshoff Pol H, Gogtay N. A family affair: brain abnormalities in siblings of patients with schizophrenia. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2013; 136:3215-26. [PMID: 23698280 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awt116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that has a strong genetic basis. Converging evidence suggests that schizophrenia is a progressive neurodevelopmental disorder, with earlier onset cases resulting in more profound brain abnormalities. Siblings of patients with schizophrenia provide an invaluable resource for differentiating between trait and state markers, thus highlighting possible endophenotypes for ongoing research. However, findings from sibling studies have not been systematically put together in a coherent story across the broader age span. We review here the cortical grey matter abnormalities in siblings of patients with schizophrenia from childhood to adulthood, by reviewing sibling studies from both childhood-onset schizophrenia, and the more common adult-onset schizophrenia. When reviewed together, studies suggest that siblings of patients with schizophrenia display significant brain abnormalities that highlight both similarities and differences between the adult and childhood populations, with shared developmental risk patterns, and segregating trajectories. Based on current research it appears that the cortical grey matter abnormalities in siblings are likely to be an age-dependent endophenotype, which normalize by the typical age of onset of schizophrenia unless there has been more genetic or symptom burdening. With increased genetic burdening (e.g. discordant twins of patients) the grey matter abnormalities in (twin) siblings are progressive in adulthood. This synthesis of the literature clarifies the importance of brain plasticity in the pathophysiology of the illness, indicating that probands may lack protective factors critical for healthy development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcel E Moran
- 1 Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, Bethesda Maryland, USA
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Terwisscha van Scheltinga AF, Bakker SC, van Haren NE, Derks EM, Buizer-Voskamp JE, Boos HB, Cahn W, Hulshoff Pol HE, Ripke S, Ophoff RA, Kahn RS. Genetic schizophrenia risk variants jointly modulate total brain and white matter volume. Biol Psychiatry 2013; 73:525-31. [PMID: 23039932 PMCID: PMC3573254 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.08.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2012] [Revised: 07/17/2012] [Accepted: 08/10/2012] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Thousands of common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are weakly associated with schizophrenia. It is likely that subsets of disease-associated SNPs are associated with distinct heritable disease-associated phenotypes. Therefore, we examined the shared genetic susceptibility modulating schizophrenia and brain volume. METHODS Odds ratios for genome-wide SNP data were calculated in the sample collected by the Psychiatric Genome-wide Association Study Consortium (8690 schizophrenia patients and 11,831 control subjects, excluding subjects from the present study). These were used to calculate individual polygenic schizophrenia (risk) scores in an independent sample of 152 schizophrenia patients and 142 healthy control subjects with available structural magnetic resonance imaging scans. RESULTS In the entire group, the polygenic schizophrenia score was significantly associated with total brain volume (R2 = .048, p = 1.6 × 10(-4)) and white matter volume (R2 = .051, p = 8.6 × 10(-5)) equally in patients and control subjects. The number of (independent) SNPs that substantially influenced both disease risk and white matter (n = 2020) was much smaller than the entire set of SNPs that modulated disease status (n = 14,751). From the set of 2020 SNPs, a group of 186 SNPs showed most evidence for association with white matter volume and an explorative functional analysis showed that these SNPs were located in genes with neuronal functions. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that a relatively small subset of schizophrenia genetic risk variants is related to the (normal) development of white matter. This, in turn, suggests that disruptions in white matter growth increase the susceptibility to develop schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- AF Terwisscha van Scheltinga
- Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Steven C. Bakker
- Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Neeltje E.M. van Haren
- Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Eske M. Derks
- Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jacobine E. Buizer-Voskamp
- Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Heleen B.M. Boos
- Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Wiepke Cahn
- Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - HE Hulshoff Pol
- Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Stephan Ripke
- Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States of America
| | | | - Roel A. Ophoff
- Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, United States of America
| | - RS Kahn
- Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands
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Gogtay N, Hua X, Stidd R, Boyle CP, Lee S, Weisinger B, Chavez A, Giedd JN, Clasen L, Toga AW, Rapoport JL, Thompson PM. Delayed white matter growth trajectory in young nonpsychotic siblings of patients with childhood-onset schizophrenia. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012; 69:875-84. [PMID: 22945617 DOI: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.2084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
CONTEXT Nonpsychotic siblings of patients with childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) share cortical gray matter abnormalities with their probands at an early age; these normalize by the time the siblings are aged 18 years, suggesting that the gray matter abnormalities in schizophrenia could be an age-specific endophenotype. Patients with COS also show significant white matter (WM) growth deficits, which have not yet been explored in nonpsychotic siblings. OBJECTIVE To study WM growth differences in nonpsychotic siblings of patients with COS. DESIGN Longitudinal (5-year) anatomic magnetic resonance imaging study mapping WM growth using a novel tensor-based morphometry analysis. SETTING National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland. PARTICIPANTS Forty-nine healthy siblings of patients with COS (mean [SD] age, 16.1 [5.3] years; 19 male, 30 female) and 57 healthy persons serving as controls (age, 16.9 [5.3] years; 29 male, 28 female). INTERVENTION Magnetic resonance imaging. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE White matter growth rates. RESULTS We compared the WM growth rates in 3 age ranges. In the youngest age group (7 to <14 years), we found a significant difference in growth rates, with siblings of patients with COS showing slower WM growth rates in the parietal lobes of the brain than age-matched healthy controls (false discovery rate, q = 0.05; critical P = .001 in the bilateral parietal WM; a post hoc analysis identified growth rate differences only on the left side, critical P = .004). A growth rate difference was not detectable at older ages. In 3-dimensional maps, growth rates in the siblings even appeared to surpass those of healthy individuals at later ages, at least locally in the brain, but this effect did not survive a multiple comparisons correction. CONCLUSIONS In this first longitudinal study of nonpsychotic siblings of patients with COS, the siblings showed early WM growth deficits, which normalized with age. As reported before for gray matter, WM growth may also be an age-specific endophenotype that shows compensatory normalization with age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nitin Gogtay
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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Byun MS, Kim JS, Jung WH, Jang JH, Choi JS, Kim SN, Choi CH, Chung CK, An SK, Kwon JS. Regional cortical thinning in subjects with high genetic loading for schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2012; 141:197-203. [PMID: 22998933 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2012.08.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2011] [Revised: 07/31/2012] [Accepted: 08/27/2012] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Although recent studies have revealed regional cortical thinning in patients with schizophrenia, it is not clear whether cortical thinning reflects a genetic liability for schizophrenia. The present study investigated the change of cortical thickness in subjects at genetic high risk (GHR) for schizophrenia with a relatively high genetic loading compared with healthy controls (HC) and patients with schizophrenia. The effect of genetic loading on cortical thinning was also measured by comparing GHR subgroups according to the levels of genetic loading. METHODS Cortical thickness was measured by the Constrained Laplacian-based Automated Segmentation with Proximities algorithm using 1.5-T structural MRI scans. The cortical thickness of the subjects at GHR (n=31) was compared with that of HC (n=29) and patients with schizophrenia (n=31). We then compared the cortical thickness of the GHR subgroups according to the number of first-degree relatives with schizophrenia to measure the effect of genetic loading. RESULTS Relative to HC, GHR subjects showed significant cortical thinning in the right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), left paracingulate and posterior cingulate regions; bilateral frontal regions including frontal pole and ventromedial prefrontal cortex; bilateral temporal regions including the left parahippocampal gyrus; and bilateral inferior parietal and occipital regions; however, patients with schizophrenia showed more widespread cortical thinning in the fronto-temporo-parietal region. GHR subjects who had two or more first-degree relatives with schizophrenia showed a greater reduction in cortical thickness in the right ACC and in the left paracingulate cortex than did those who had only one first-degree relative with schizophrenia. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that the level of genetic loading may have a dose-dependent effect on cortical thinning in the right ACC and in the left paracingulate cortex and that cortical thinning in GHR subjects may represent neurodevelopmental alterations that result from genetic liability for schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Soo Byun
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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Palha JA, Santos NC, Marques F, Sousa J, Bessa J, Miguelote R, Sousa N, Belmonte-de-Abreu P. Do genes and environment meet to regulate cerebrospinal fluid dynamics? Relevance for schizophrenia. Front Cell Neurosci 2012; 6:31. [PMID: 22891052 PMCID: PMC3413907 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2012.00031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2012] [Accepted: 07/15/2012] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a neurodevelopment disorder in which the interplay of genes and environment contributes to disease onset and establishment. The most consistent pathological feature in schizophrenic patients is an enlargement of the brain ventricles. Yet, so far, no study has related this finding with dysfunction of the choroid plexus (CP), the epithelial cell monolayer located within the brain ventricles that is responsible for the production of most of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Enlarged brain ventricles are already present at the time of disease onset (young adulthood) and, of notice, isolated mild ventriculomegaly detected in utero is associated with subsequent mild neurodevelopmental abnormalities similar to those observed in children at high risk of developing schizophrenia. Here we propose that altered CP/CSF dynamics during neurodevelopment may be considered a risk, causative and/or participating factor for development of schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joana A Palha
- Life and Health Sciences Research Institute, School of Health Sciences, University of Minho Braga, Portugal
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Mandl RCW, Rais M, van Baal GCM, van Haren NEM, Cahn W, Kahn RS, Hulshoff Pol HE. Altered white matter connectivity in never-medicated patients with schizophrenia. Hum Brain Mapp 2012; 34:2353-65. [PMID: 22461372 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2011] [Revised: 01/22/2012] [Accepted: 02/13/2012] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Numerous diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have implicated white matter brain tissue abnormalities in schizophrenia. However, the vast majority of these studies included patient populations that use antipsychotic medication. Previous research showed that medication intake can affect brain morphology and the question therefore arises to what extent the reported white matter aberrations can be attributed to the disease rather than to the use of medication. In this study we included 16 medication-naïve patients with schizophrenia and compared them to 23 healthy controls to exclude antipsychotic medication use as a confounding factor. For each subject DTI scans and magnetization transfer imaging (MTI) scans were acquired. A new tract-based analysis was used that combines fractional anisoptropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD) and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) to examine group differences in 12 major white matter fiber bundles. Significant group differences in combined FA, MD, MTR values were found for the right uncinate fasciculus and the left arcuate fasciculus. Additional analysis revealed that the largest part of both tracts showed an increase in MTR in combination with an increase in MD for patients with schizophrenia. We interpret these group-related differences as disease-related axonal or glial aberrations that cannot be attributed to antipsychotic medication use.
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Affiliation(s)
- René C W Mandl
- Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
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Tian L, Meng C, Yan H, Zhao Q, Liu Q, Yan J, Han Y, Yuan H, Wang L, Yue W, Zhang Y, Li X, Zhu C, He Y, Zhang D. Convergent evidence from multimodal imaging reveals amygdala abnormalities in schizophrenic patients and their first-degree relatives. PLoS One 2011; 6:e28794. [PMID: 22174900 PMCID: PMC3234284 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0028794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2011] [Accepted: 11/15/2011] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Shared neuropathological features between schizophrenic patients and their first-degree relatives have potential as indicators of genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia. We sought to explore genetic influences on brain morphology and function in schizophrenic patients and their relatives. METHODS Using a multimodal imaging strategy, we studied 33 schizophrenic patients, 55 of their unaffected parents, 30 healthy controls for patients, and 29 healthy controls for parents with voxel-based morphometry of structural MRI scans and functional connectivity analysis of resting-state functional MRI data. RESULTS Schizophrenic patients showed widespread gray matter reductions in the bilateral frontal cortices, bilateral insulae, bilateral occipital cortices, left amygdala and right thalamus, whereas their parents showed more localized reductions in the left amygdala, left thalamus and right orbitofrontal cortex. Patients and their parents shared gray matter loss in the left amygdala. Further investigation of the resting-state functional connectivity of the amygdala in the patients showed abnormal functional connectivity with the bilateral orbitofrontal cortices, bilateral precunei, bilateral dorsolateral frontal cortices and right insula. Their parents showed slightly less, but similar changes in the pattern in the amygdala connectivity. Co-occurrences of abnormal connectivity of the left amygdala with the left orbitofrontal cortex, right dorsolateral frontal cortex and right precuneus were observed in schizophrenic patients and their parents. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest a potential genetic influence on structural and functional abnormalities of the amygdala in schizophrenia. Such information could help future efforts to identify the endophenotypes that characterize the complex disorder of schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin Tian
- Institute of Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Mental Health, Ministry of Health, Beijing, China
| | - Chun Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Hao Yan
- Institute of Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Mental Health, Ministry of Health, Beijing, China
- * E-mail: (HY); (DZ)
| | - Qiang Zhao
- Department of Radiology, The Third Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Qi Liu
- Institute of Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Mental Health, Ministry of Health, Beijing, China
| | - Jun Yan
- Institute of Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Mental Health, Ministry of Health, Beijing, China
| | - Yonghua Han
- Institute of Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Mental Health, Ministry of Health, Beijing, China
| | - Huishu Yuan
- Department of Radiology, The Third Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Lifang Wang
- Institute of Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Mental Health, Ministry of Health, Beijing, China
| | - Weihua Yue
- Institute of Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Mental Health, Ministry of Health, Beijing, China
| | - Yanbo Zhang
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Xinmin Li
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Chaozhe Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Yong He
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Dai Zhang
- Institute of Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory for Mental Health, Ministry of Health, Beijing, China
- * E-mail: (HY); (DZ)
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