title: Cortical thinning in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
abstract: Although schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) share some clinical features such as psychotic symptoms and cognitive dysfunctions, little is known about possible pathophysiological similarities between both diseases. Therefore, we investigated the potential topographical overlap and segregation of cortical thickness abnormalities in SZ and BD patients. We analyzed 3D-anatomical magnetic resonance imaging datasets with the FreeSurfer 5.1.0 software to examine cortical thickness and volumes in three groups of participants: n=34 BD patients, n=32 SZ patients and n=38 healthy controls. We observed similar bilateral cortical thickness reductions in BD and SZ patients predominantly in the pars opercularis of the inferior frontal gyrus and in the anterior and posterior cingulate. We also found disease-specific cortical reductions in the orbitofrontal cortex for BD patients and in dorsal frontal and temporal areas for SZ. Furthermore, inferior frontal gyrus cortical thinning was associated with deficits in psychomotor speed and executive functioning in SZ patients and with age at onset in both groups. Our findings support the hypothesis that thinning of the frontal cortex may represent a biological feature shared by both disease groups. The associations between cognitive deficits and the reported findings in SZ and to a lesser degree in BD patients add to the functional relevance of our results. However, further studies are needed to corroborate a model of shared pathophysiological disease features across BD and SZ.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, 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/Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reuter
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany; Brain Imaging Center (BIC), Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Britta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reinke
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany; Brain Imaging Center (BIC), Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, 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/Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marbach
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany; Brain Imaging Center (BIC), Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feddern
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuhlmann
authors.affiliation: Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gilberto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neuroimaging, Dept. of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, 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/Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wenzler
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/Main, Germany; Brain Imaging Center (BIC), Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Viola
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Oertel-Knöchel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D012984:Software
keywords: Bipolar; Cognitive functioning; Cortical thickness; MRI; Psychosis; Schizophrenia