Association between white matter fiber integrity and subclinical psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia patients and unaffected relatives

Knöchel, Christian; O’Dwyer, Laurence; Alves, Gilberto Sousa; Reinke, Britta; Magerkurth, Jörg; Rotarska-Jagiela, Anna; Prvulovic, David; Hampel, Harald; Linden, David Edmund Johannes; Oertel-Knöchel, Viola

doi:10.1016/j.schres.2012.06.001

Cited by 57 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…31 Additionally, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have provided complementary evidence for white matter alterations in psychometrically defined schizotypy similar to those observed in SZ, but these findings have also been inconsistent. While some studies have found higher FA in some regions but lower FA in others, 32 others have found consistent reductions in FA in several regions 33,34 and yet others have found increases in FA 35 related to high levels of subclinical psychotic symptoms. Taken together these studies implicate aberrant neurodevelopmental processes in subclinical psychosis that are similar to those believed to underlie the neurobiology of SZ without the associated confound of antipsychotic medications and suggest that the examination of psychometric schizotypy in nonpsychiatric populations may provide insight into the neurobiology of psychosis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Evidence From Structural and Diffusion Tensor Imaging for Frontotemporal Deficits in Psychometric Schizotypy

DeRosse

Nitzburg

Ikuta

et al. 2014

Schizophrenia Bulletin

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Background: Previous studies of nonclinical samples exhibiting schizotypal traits have provided support for the existence of a continuous distribution of psychotic symptoms in the general population. Few studies, however, have examined the neural correlates of psychometric schizotypy using structural and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Methods: Healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 68 were recruited from the community and assessed using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire and received structural and DTI exams. Participants with high (N = 67) and low (N = 71) psychometric schizotypy were compared on gray and white matter volume, and cortical thickness in frontal and temporal lobe regions and on fractional anisotropy (FA) within 5 association tracts traversing the frontal and temporal lobes. Results: Higher levels of schizotypy were associated with lower overall volumes of gray matter in both the frontal and temporal lobes and lower gray matter thickness in the temporal lobe. Regionally specific effects were evident in both white matter and gray matter volume of the rostral middle frontal cortex and gray matter volume in the pars orbitalis. Moreover, relative to individuals who scored low, those who scored high in schizotypy had lower FA in the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus as well as greater asymmetry (right > left) in the uncinate fasciculus. Conclusions: These findings are broadly consistent with recent data on the neurobiological correlates of psychometric schizotypy as well as findings in schizotypal personality disorder and schizophrenia and suggest that frontotemporal lobe dysfunction may represent a core component of the psychosis phenotype.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Evidence From Structural and Diffusion Tensor Imaging for Frontotemporal Deficits in Psychometric Schizotypy

DeRosse

Nitzburg

Ikuta

et al. 2014

Schizophrenia Bulletin

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“…Evidence from functional magnetic resonance imaging has shown that modulation of fronto-parietal connectivity during working memory processing was gradually reduced from healthy controls to ARMS subjects and then to first-episode patients (FEP) [14], suggesting that fronto-parietal connectivity changes in psychosis evolve along a dynamic trajectory, emerging before disease onset and developing with ongoing illness. DTI studies have shown reduced FA in the SLF in patients with FEP [15], as well as in subjects at clinical [16,17] or genetic high-risk of psychosis [18,19] (for a review see [11]). DTI studies have also observed increased MD in the SLF of genetic [18] and clinical high-risk individuals [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain Diffusion Changes in Emerging Psychosis and the Impact of State-Dependent Psychopathology

Schmidt¹,

Lenz²,

Smieskova³

et al. 2015

Neurosignals

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Background/Aims: Previous diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have shown microstructural changes in the brain white matter of at-risk mental state (ARMS) subjects for psychosis and patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP). However, only a few studies have been conducted in clinical high-risk samples and findings in both groups are inconsistent, in particular along the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF). Methods: This DTI study used tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to compare fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) between ARMS subjects, untreated and antipsychotic-treated FEP patients and healthy controls (HC) across the whole brain and the SLF. Results: Compared to HC, ARMS and FEP patients showed increased FA and decreased MD in diverse regions across the whole brain including the SLF. FA in the SLF was positively correlated with positive psychotic symptoms in ARMS and FEP individuals. Furthermore, untreated but not treated FEP patients showed increased FA in the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus and right SLF. Conclusion: This study revealed increased FA and decreased MD in early stages of psychosis in widespread white matter tracts including the SLF. Our findings further suggest that microstructural changes in the SLF are probably related to state-dependent psychopathology.

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“…Studying these individuals allows evaluation of the underpinnings of schizophrenia that are independent of the disease state. Many studies have investigated schizophrenic patients and first-degree relatives with DTI, and suggested that patterns of abnormal structural connectivity may be an important endophenotype of schizophrenia [18][19][20][21][22] . Recently, using diffusion-weighted imaging, Collin et al found that the network organization is abnormal in schizophrenia and their unaffected siblings, and suggested that structural connectivity is an indicator of genetic predisposition for schizophrenia [23] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compromised small-world efficiency of structural brain networks in schizophrenic patients and their unaffected parents

et al. 2015

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Several lines of evidence suggest that efficient information integration between brain regions is disrupted in schizophrenia. Abnormalities in white matter tracts that interconnect brain regions may be directly relevant to this pathophysiological process. As a complex mental disorder with high heritability, mapping abnormalities in patients and their firstdegree relatives may help to disentangle the risk factors for schizophrenia. We established a weighted network model of white matter connections using diffusion tensor imaging in 25 nuclear families with schizophrenic probands (19 patients and 41 unaffected parents) and two unrelated groups of normal controls (24 controls matched with patients and 26 controls matched with relatives). The patient group showed lower global efficiency and local efficiency. The decreased regional efficiency was localized in hubs such as the bilateral frontal cortices, bilateral anterior cingulate cortices, and left precuneus. The global effi ciency was negatively correlated with cognition scores derived from a 5-factor model of schizophrenic psychopathology.We also found that unaffected parents displayed decreased regional efficiency in the right temporal cortices, left supplementary motor area, left superior temporal pole, and left thalamus. The global efficiency tended to be lower in unaffected parents. Our data suggest that (1) the global effi ciency loss in neuroanatomical networks may be associated with the cognitive disturbances in schizophrenia; and (2) genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia may influence the anatomical organization of an individual's brain networks.

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Association between white matter fiber integrity and subclinical psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia patients and unaffected relatives

Cited by 57 publications

References 55 publications

Evidence From Structural and Diffusion Tensor Imaging for Frontotemporal Deficits in Psychometric Schizotypy

Evidence From Structural and Diffusion Tensor Imaging for Frontotemporal Deficits in Psychometric Schizotypy

Brain Diffusion Changes in Emerging Psychosis and the Impact of State-Dependent Psychopathology

Compromised small-world efficiency of structural brain networks in schizophrenic patients and their unaffected parents

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