title: Fronto-cerebellar systems are associated with infant motor and adult executive functions in healthy adults but not in schizophrenia.
abstract: Delineating longitudinal relationships between early developmental markers, adult cognitive function, and adult brain structure could clarify the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia. We aimed to identify brain structural correlates of infant motor development (IMD) and adult executive function in nonpsychotic adults and to test for abnormal associations between these measures in people with schizophrenia. Representative samples of nonpsychotic adults (n = 93) and people with schizophrenia (n = 49) were drawn from the Northern Finland 1966 general population birth cohort. IMD was prospectively assessed at age 1 year; executive function testing and MRI were completed at age 33-35 years. We found that earlier motor development in infancy was correlated with superior executive function in nonpsychotic subjects. Earlier motor development was also normally associated with increased gray matter density in adult premotor cortex, striatum, and cerebellum and increased white matter density in frontal and parietal lobes. Adult executive function was normally associated with increased gray matter density in a fronto-cerebellar system that partially overlapped, but was not identical to, the gray matter regions normally associated with IMD. People with schizophrenia had relatively delayed IMD and impaired adult executive function in adulthood. Furthermore, they demonstrated no normative associations between fronto-cerebellar structure, IMD, or executive function. We conclude that frontal cortico-cerebellar systems correlated with adult executive function are anatomically related to systems associated with normal infant motor development. Disruption of this anatomical system may underlie both the early developmental and adult cognitive abnormalities in schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Brain Mapping Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Khanum
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ridler
authors.forename: Juha M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Veijola
authors.forename: Päivikki
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tanskanen
authors.forename: Jouko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miettunen
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chitnis
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suckling
authors.forename: Graham K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haapea
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Matti K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Isohanni
authors.forename: Edward T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Bullmore
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005387:Finland; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology