title: Childhood neglect predicts disorganization in schizophrenia through grey matter decrease in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Psychosocial trauma during childhood is associated with schizophrenia vulnerability. The pattern of grey matter decrease is similar to brain alterations seen in schizophrenia. Our objective was to explore the links between childhood trauma, brain morphology and schizophrenia symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-one patients with schizophrenia stabilized with atypical antipsychotic monotherapy and 30 healthy control subjects completed the study. Anatomical MRI images were analysed using optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Childhood trauma was assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and symptoms were rated on the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) and Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) (disorganization, positive and negative symptoms). In the schizophrenia group, we used structural equation modelling in a path analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total grey matter volume was negatively associated with emotional neglect (EN) in patients with schizophrenia. Whole-brain VBM analyses of grey matter in the schizophrenia group revealed a specific inversed association between EN and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Path analyses identified a well-fitted model in which EN predicted grey matter density in DLPFC, which in turn predicted the disorganization score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that EN during childhood could have an impact on psychopathology in schizophrenia, which would be mediated by developmental effects on brain regions such as the DLPFC.
authors.affiliation: Timone Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 7289, CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.|Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cancel
authors.affiliation: Timone Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 7289, CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Comte
authors.affiliation: Public Assistance for Marseille Hospitals (APHM) Unit for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutic Evaluation (CIC-UPCET), CHU Timone Hospital, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Truillet
authors.affiliation: Timone Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 7289, CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boukezzi
authors.affiliation: Timone Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 7289, CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.|Psychiatry Unit, Saint Anne Military Training Hospital, Toulon, France.
authors.forename: P-F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Rousseau
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, La Conception University Hospital, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: X Y
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Zendjidjian
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Mental Health, L'escale, Orpea-Clinéa, Saint-Victoret, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sage
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Sainte Marguerite University Hospital, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: P-E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Lazerges
authors.affiliation: Timone Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 7289, CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.|Biophysics and Nuclear Medicine Department, Timone Hospital, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guedj
authors.affiliation: Timone Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 7289, CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khalfa
authors.affiliation: Timone Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 7289, CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.|Department of Psychiatry, Sainte Marguerite University Hospital, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: J-M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Azorin
authors.affiliation: Timone Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 7289, CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.|Public Assistance for Marseille Hospitals (APHM) Unit for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutic Evaluation (CIC-UPCET), CHU Timone Hospital, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Blin
authors.affiliation: Timone Institute of Neuroscience, UMR 7289, CNRS and Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.|Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fakra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D011584:Psychology; D012561:Schizophrenia, Childhood / Q000473:pathology*; D012562:Schizophrenia, Disorganized / Q000473:pathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
keywords: childhood trauma; disorganization; dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; schizophrenia; voxel-based morphometry