48 echo T₂ myelin imaging of white matter in first-episode schizophrenia: evidence for aberrant myelination.
Myelin water imaging provides a novel strategy to assess myelin integrity and corresponding clinical relationships in psychosis, of particular relevance in frontal white matter regions. In the current study, T2 myelin water imaging was used to assess the myelin water fraction (MWF) signal from frontal areas in a sample of 58 individuals experiencing first-episode psychosis (FEP) and 44 healthy volunteers. No differences in frontal MWF were observed between FEP subjects and healthy volunteers; however, differences in normal patterns of associations between frontal MWF and age, education and IQ were seen. Significant positive relationships between frontal MWF and age, North American Adult Reading Test (NAART) IQ, and years of completed education were observed in healthy volunteers. In contrast, only the relationship between frontal MWF and NAART IQ was significant after Bonferroni correction in the FEP group. Additionally, significant positive relationships between age and MWF in the anterior and posterior internal capsules, the genu, and the splenium were observed in healthy volunteers. In FEP subjects, only the relationship between age and MWF in the splenium was statistically significant. Frontal MWF was not associated with local white matter volume. Altered patterns of association between age, years of education, and MWF in FEP suggest that subtle disturbances in myelination may be present early in the course of psychosis.
Dept. Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4, Canada.
Donna J M
DJ
Lang
Dept. Oncology, Medical Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta T6G 1Z2, Canada.
Eugene
E
Yip
Dept. Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4, Canada.
Alexander L
AL
MacKay
Dept. Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada.
Allen E
AE
Thornton
Dept. Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4, Canada.
Fidel
F
Vila-Rodriguez
Dept. Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4, Canada.
G William
GW
MacEwan
Dept. Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4, Canada.
Lili C
LC
Kopala
Dept. Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4, Canada.
Geoffrey N
GN
Smith
Dept. Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4, Canada.
Cornelia
C
Laule
Dept. Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4, Canada.
Cassie B
CB
MacRae
Dept. Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4H4, Canada.
William G
WG
Honer
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000473:pathology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis; D066127:White Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
D014867:Water
ALIC, anterior limb internal capsule; DSM-IV, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, version IV; FEP, first episode psychosis; First-episode psychosis; Frontal white matter; MWF, myelin water fraction; Myelin water fraction; NAART, North American Adult Reading Test; Schizophrenia