Association of Cortical Thickness and Neurological Soft Signs in Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia and Healthy Controls

Kong, Li; Herold, Christina; Lässer, Marc M.; Schmid, Lena; Hirjak, Dušan; Thomann, Philipp A.; Essig, Marco; Schröder, Johannes

doi:10.1159/000382020

Cited by 21 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…Interestingly, this pattern of findings did not apply to the healthy controls (N = 20). In contrast, Kong et al [25] found negative correlations between NSS and cortical thickness in anterior cingulate, pericalcarine and superior/middle temporal regions in their healthy control group. In younger healthy subjects (mean age: 27-30 years), higher rates of NSS were associated with a reduction of right middle frontal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, middle and superior temporal gyrus and anterior cingulate gyrus [21,26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…According to the literature NSS are structurally associated with morphological alterations of pre-and postcentral gyri, premotor area, cerebellum, middle and inferior frontal gyri, thalamus and basal ganglia, temporal and lingual gyri, inferior parietal lobule, insula, precuneus and occipital gyrus in younger patient samples [for review see : 11, 12]. In addition, in middleaged patients with chronic schizophrenia significant associations between NSS scores (Heidelberg Scale) and reduced cortical thickness in prefrontal, inferior temporal, superior parietal, postcentral and supramarginal cortices were demonstrated [25]. These findings parallel those of the present study and reflect the model of "cognitive dysmetria" developed by Andreasen et al [13].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These results remained significant after age and duration of hospitalization were partialled out. Recently, Kong and colleagues [25] examined the relationships between NSS and cortical thickness abnormalities in a group of patients (N = 18) with chronic schizophrenia (mean age: 54 years, mean duration of illness: 32 years). They found significant negative correlations between NSS and cortical thickness in prefrontal, inferior temporal, superior parietal, postcentral, and supramarginal cortices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neurological soft signs (NSS) and brain morphology in patients with chronic schizophrenia and healthy controls

2020

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Subtle abnormalities in sensory integration, motor coordination and sequencing of complex motor acts or neurological soft signs (NSS) are characteristic phenomena in patients with schizophrenia at any stage of the illness. Previous MRI studies in schizophrenia found NSS to be associated with cortical, thalamic and cerebellar changes. Since these studies mainly focused on first-episode or recent onset schizophrenia, the cerebral correlates of NSS in chronic schizophrenia remained rather unclear. 49 middle-aged patients with chronic schizophrenia with a mean duration of illness of 20.3 ± 14.0 years and 29 healthy subjects matched for age and sex were included. NSS were examined on the Heidelberg Scale and correlated to grey matter (GM) by using whole brain high resolution magnetic resonance imaging (3 Tesla) with SPM12/CAT12 analyses. As expected, NSS in patients were significantly (p�0.001) elevated in contrast to healthy controls, a finding, which not only applied to NSS total score, but also to the respective subscales "motor coordination", "sensory integration", "complex motor tasks", "right/left and spatial orientation" and "hard signs". Within the patient group NSS total scores were significantly correlated to reduced GM in right lingual gyrus, left parahippocampal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, left thalamus (medial dorsal nucleus) and left posterior lobe of the cerebellum (declive). Respective negative associations could also be revealed for the subscales "motor coordination", "complex motor tasks" and "right/left and spatial orientation". These findings remained significant after FWE-correction for multiple comparisons and were confirmed when years of education, chlorpromazineequivalents or variables indicating the severity of psychopathology were introduced as additional covariates. According to our results lingual, parahippocampal, superior temporal, inferior and middle frontal gyri, thalamus and cerebellum have to be considered as important sites of NSS in chronic schizophrenia. That these findings only applied for patients but not healthy controls may indicate a different pathogenesis of NSS.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neurological soft signs (NSS) and brain morphology in patients with chronic schizophrenia and healthy controls

2020

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“…54 Significant cortical thinning has also been noted in this re gion in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia compared to matched controls. 55,56 Finally, 22q11 deletion syndrome and genetic risk for schizophrenia based on common gen etic variation have been associated with volumetric grey matter differences in the lingual gyrus and cuneus, as well as cortical thinning in the cuneus and pericalcarine and lingual gyri. 57,58 A recent paper examined LGI in medicated young adults who met the criteria for an atrisk mental state.…”

Section: Differences In Occipital Cortex Foldingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychotic symptoms are associated with lower cortical folding in youth at risk for mental illness

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Gestel

Zwicker

et al. 2020

jpn

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“…Neurological soft signs (NSSs) are subtle, non‐localizable neurological abnormalities in motor coordination, complex motor sequencing, sensory integration, and disinhibition (Chen et al, ; Heinrichs & Buchanan, ). NSSs have been frequently reported in patients with schizophrenia at different stages of the illness, including chronic schizophrenia, first‐episode schizophrenia, and in individuals with ultra‐high risk (UHR) for psychosis (Chan, Xu, Heinrichs, Yu, & Wang, ; Dazzan et al, ; Kong et al, ; Schröder et al, ). In addition, patients with schizophrenia and UHR individuals exhibit significantly higher NSS values compared with healthy controls, with UHR individuals situated intermediately between schizophrenia patients and controls (Chan, Xu, Heinrichs, Yu, & Gong, ; Chan, Xu, Heinrichs, Yu, & Wang, ).…”

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Neurological soft signs and grey matter abnormalities in individuals with ultra‐high risk for psychosis

et al. 2018

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Neurological soft signs (NSSs), conventionally defined as subtle neurological abnormalities, are frequently found in individuals with schizophrenia. Many neuroimaging studies have also reported that NSSs are associated with grey matter changes in patients with schizophrenia at different stages of the illness. However, these findings may be confounded by the effect of antipsychotic medications, chronicity, and duration of untreated psychosis. Examining NSSs in individuals with ultra‐high risk (UHR) for psychosis may help to identify the neuroanatomical substrates of NSSs related to the illness itself and to avoid these potential confounding effects. A sample of 21 individuals with UHR were included in the present study. NSSs were rated using the abridged version of the Cambridge Neurological Inventory. Grey matter volume was assessed using optimized voxel‐based morphometry on images acquired by a high‐resolution 3‐T magnetic resonance imaging scanner. We found that higher NSS scores in individuals with UHR were associated with decreased grey matter volume at the superior and medial frontal cortex, the rectal cortex, the pre‐ and post‐central cortex, the insula, the caudate, and the cerebellum. Our results suggest that these brain structural characteristics may represent the neuroanatomical substrate of NSSs in individuals with UHR. These findings contribute to the understanding of the intrinsic features of psychosis associated with NSSs and may provide insights into pre‐schizophrenia pathophysiology.

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Association of Cortical Thickness and Neurological Soft Signs in Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia and Healthy Controls

Cited by 21 publications

References 53 publications

Neurological soft signs (NSS) and brain morphology in patients with chronic schizophrenia and healthy controls

Neurological soft signs (NSS) and brain morphology in patients with chronic schizophrenia and healthy controls

Psychotic symptoms are associated with lower cortical folding in youth at risk for mental illness

Neurological soft signs and grey matter abnormalities in individuals with ultra‐high risk for psychosis

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