No evidence for structural brain changes in young adolescents at ultra high risk for psychosis.
OBJECTIVE
The onset of psychosis is thought to be preceded by neurodevelopmental changes in the brain. However, the timing of these changes has not been established. We investigated structural brain changes in a sample of young adolescents (12-18 years) at ultra high-risk for psychosis (UHR).


METHODS
Structural MRI data from young UHR subjects (n=54) and typically developing, matched controls (n=54) were acquired with a 1.5 Tesla scanner and compared.


RESULTS
None of the measures differed between UHR subjects and controls.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results do not support the presence of gross neuroanatomical changes in young UHR subjects. This suggests that early changes are too subtle to detect with conventional imaging techniques. Therefore, changes observed in older cohorts may only onset later developmentally or occur secondary to prodromal symptoms.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, Utrecht, the Netherlands. T.Ziermans@umcutrecht.nl
Tim B
TB
Ziermans
Sarah
S
Durston
Mirjam
M
Sprong
Hilde
H
Nederveen
Neeltje E M
NE
van Haren
Hugo G
HG
Schnack
Bertine E
BE
Lahuis
Patricia F
PF
Schothorst
Herman
H
van Engeland
D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D012306:Risk