title: A trend toward smaller optical angles and medial-ocular distance in schizophrenia spectrum, but not in bipolar and major depressive disorders.
abstract: Minor physical anomalies (MPAs) are subtle signs of fetal developmental abnormalities that have been considered to be among the most replicated risk markers for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. However, quantitative approaches are needed to measure craniofacial MPAs. The present study adopted an imaging-based quantitative approach to examine craniofacial MPAs across the spectrum of schizophrenia and affective disorders, to address their sensitivity and specificity. We sampled 31 patients with schizophrenia, 30 of their unaffected relatives, and 30 individuals with schizotypal personality traits, as well as 37 non-schizotypal controls. We also examined 17 patients with bipolar disorder and 19 patients with major depressive disorder. Five craniofacial MPAs were measured on anterior-posterior commissure-aligned T1-weighted images of an individual's native brain space: medial-ocular distance, lateral-ocular distance, optical angle, maximum skull length, and skull-base width. Compared to non-schizotypal controls, patients with schizophrenia and their relatives showed a trend toward having smaller optical angles and medial-ocular distance, while no difference was found in patients with bipolar or major depressive disorders, suggesting some degree of specificity to schizophrenia. Our approach may benefit future research on craniofacial MPAs as risk markers for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, and may eventually be useful in strategies to enhance risk stratification using multiple risk markers.
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.|Cognitive Analysis & Brain Imaging Laboratory, MIND Institute, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.|The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.|The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Chen-Yuan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing 306 Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Ming-Xia
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, New York, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Compton
authors.affiliation: Castle Peak Hospital, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Eric F C
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: Kelvin O
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Raymond C K
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000150:complications*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D019465:Craniofacial Abnormalities / Q000150:complications*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: bipolar disorder; depression; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); minor physical anomalies (MPAs); schizophrenia-spectrum disorders