title: Shared and distinct gray matter abnormalities in schizophrenia, schizophrenia relatives and bipolar disorder in association with cognitive impairment.
abstract: Cognitive impairments have been linked to structural and functional alterations in frontal and subcortical brain regions, ultimately leading to fronto-thalamic connectivity disturbances. We hypothesized that such neuronal disruptions in frontal and subcortical structures may account for neuropsychological deficits in schizophrenia (SZ), schizophrenia relatives and bipolar disorder (BD). We acquired T1-weighted anatomical MRI sequences in 209 participants: 57 SZ patients, 47 first-degree relatives of SZ patients, 48 BD I patients and 57 healthy controls. We computed group comparisons of gray matter (GM) volume in frontal and basal ganglia regions-of-interest, followed by correlation analysis between psychomotor speed, executive functioning and learning and GM volumes in candidate regions. Several frontal GM volume reductions as well as GM increases in the thalamus and the putamen were exhibited in SZ patients as compared to controls. The same finding was observed - less pronounced - when comparing SZ relatives and controls. BD patients presented GM volume increases in the basal ganglia in comparison to controls. In SZ patients, increases in bilateral thalamus GM volume and decreases in left middle and superior frontal gyrus volume were significantly associated with worse cognitive performance. In summary, our results indicate distinct imbalances across frontal-subcortical circuits in BD, SZ relatives and SZ. The functional relevance of the findings were mainly limited to the SZ patients group: in this group, abnormalities were directly associated with cognitive performance. This result is in line with the finding that the volume alterations were strongest in SZ patients and followed by BD patients and SZ relatives.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany. Electronic address: Christian.Knoechel@kgu.de.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Knöchel
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stäblein
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prvulovic
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Denisa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ghinea
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wenzler
authors.affiliation: Institute of General Practice, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pantel
authors.affiliation: Translational Psychiatry Research Group, Department of Clinical Medicine, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gilberto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics & Genomics, Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David E J
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Linden
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Octavia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.affiliation: Translational Psychiatry Research Group, Department of Clinical Medicine, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reif
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Viola
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Oertel-Knöchel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013223:Statistics as Topic
keywords: Bipolar disorder; Cognitive disorders; Cortico-basal-imbalance; Frontal gray matter; Psychosis spectrum; Schizophrenia; VBM