title: Associations of cortical thickness and cognition in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.
abstract: Previous studies have found varying relationships between cognitive functioning and brain volumes in patients with schizophrenia. However, cortical thickness may more closely reflect cytoarchitectural characteristics than gray matter density or volume estimates. Here, we aimed to compare associations between regional variation in cortical thickness and executive functions, memory, as well as verbal and spatial processing in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls (HCs). We obtained magnetic resonance imaging and neuropsychological data for 131 patients and 138 matched controls. Automated cortical pattern matching methods allowed testing for associations with cortical thickness estimated as the shortest distance between the gray/white matter border and the pial surface at thousands of points across the entire cortical surface. Two independent measures of working memory showed robust associations with cortical thickness in lateral prefrontal cortex in HCs, whereas patients exhibited associations between working memory and cortical thickness in the right middle and superior temporal lobe. This study provides additional evidence for a disrupted structure-function relationship in schizophrenia. In line with the prefrontal inefficiency hypothesis, schizophrenia patients may engage a larger compensatory network of brain regions other than frontal cortex to recall and manipulate verbal material in working memory.
authors: Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital/Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Harvard Medical School, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA 02129-2000, USA. stefan@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Ehrlich
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Brauns
authors: Anastasia
authors: A
authors: Yendiki
authors: Beng-Choon
authors: BC
authors: Ho
authors: Vince
authors: V
authors: Calhoun
authors: S Charles
authors: SC
authors: Schulz
authors: Randy L
authors: RL
authors: Gollub
authors: Scott R
authors: SR
authors: Sponheim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology