title: Grey-matter texture abnormalities and reduced hippocampal volume are distinguishing features of schizophrenia.
abstract: Neurodevelopmental processes are widely believed to underlie schizophrenia. Analysis of brain texture from conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect disturbance in brain cytoarchitecture. We tested the hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia manifest quantitative differences in brain texture that, alongside discrete volumetric changes, may serve as an endophenotypic biomarker. Texture analysis (TA) of grey matter distribution and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) of regional brain volumes were applied to MRI scans of 27 patients with schizophrenia and 24 controls. Texture parameters (uniformity and entropy) were also used as covariates in VBM analyses to test for correspondence with regional brain volume. Linear discriminant analysis tested if texture and volumetric data predicted diagnostic group membership (schizophrenia or control). We found that uniformity and entropy of grey matter differed significantly between individuals with schizophrenia and controls at the fine spatial scale (filter width below 2mm). Within the schizophrenia group, these texture parameters correlated with volumes of the left hippocampus, right amygdala and cerebellum. The best predictor of diagnostic group membership was the combination of fine texture heterogeneity and left hippocampal size. This study highlights the presence of distributed grey-matter abnormalities in schizophrenia, and their relation to focal structural abnormality of the hippocampus. The conjunction of these features has potential as a neuroimaging endophenotype of schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Sciences Division, Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RY, UK.
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Radulescu
authors.affiliation: University College London (UCL), Institute of Nuclear Medicine, London NW1 2BU, UK.
authors.forename: Balaji
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ganeshan
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: Sukhwinder S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Shergill
authors.affiliation: Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RY, UK; Psychiatry, Brighton & Sussex Medical School (BSMS), Brighton BN1 9RY, UK; Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, c/o Sussex Education Centre, Mill View Hospital Site, Hove BN3 7HZ, UK.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Medford
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering and Design, University of Sussex, BN1 9QT, UK.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chatwin
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering and Design, University of Sussex, BN1 9QT, UK.
authors.forename: Rupert C D
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RY, UK; Psychiatry, Brighton & Sussex Medical School (BSMS), Brighton BN1 9RY, UK; Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, c/o Sussex Education Centre, Mill View Hospital Site, Hove BN3 7HZ, UK. Electronic address: H.Critchley@bsms.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Hugo D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Critchley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D058068:Endophenotypes; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods*; D009929:Organ Size; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012107:Research Design; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Classifier; Endophenotype; Magnetic resonance imaging; Neurodevelopment; Psychosis