title: Alterations in the hippocampus and thalamus in individuals at high risk for psychosis.
abstract: Reduction in hippocampal volume is a hallmark of schizophrenia and already present in the clinical high-risk state. Nevertheless, other subcortical structures, such as the thalamus, amygdala and pallidum can differentiate schizophrenia patients from controls. We studied the role of hippocampal and subcortical structures in clinical high-risk individuals from two cohorts. High-resolution T1-weighted structural MRI brain scans of a total of 91 clinical high-risk individuals and 64 healthy controls were collected in two centers. The bilateral volume of the hippocampus, the thalamus, the caudate, the putamen, the pallidum, the amygdala, and the accumbens were automatically segmented using FSL-FIRST. A linear mixed-effects model and a prospective meta-analysis were applied to assess group-related volumetric differences. We report reduced hippocampal and thalamic volumes in clinical high-risk individuals compared to healthy controls. No volumetric alterations were detected for the caudate, the putamen, the pallidum, the amygdala, or the accumbens. Moreover, we found comparable medium effect sizes for group-related comparison of the thalamus in the two analytical methods. These findings underline the relevance of specific alterations in the hippocampal and subcortical volumes in the high-risk state. Further analyses may allow hippocampal and thalamic volumes to be used as biomarkers to predict psychosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Basel , Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Fabienne
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Harrisberger
authors.affiliation: The Zurich Program for Sustainable Development of Mental Health Services, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich , Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buechler
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Medical Image Analysis Centre, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Smieskova
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Basel , Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lenz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Basel , Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Basel , Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Egloff
authors.affiliation: Medical Image Analysis Centre, University of Basel , Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bendfeldt
authors.affiliation: Specialized Early Psychosis Outpatient Service for Adolescents and Young Adults, Department of Psychiatry , Bruderholz, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andor E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.affiliation: The Zurich Program for Sustainable Development of Mental Health Services, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich , Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wotruba
authors.affiliation: The Zurich Program for Sustainable Development of Mental Health Services, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich , Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Theodoridou
authors.affiliation: The Zurich Program for Sustainable Development of Mental Health Services, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich , Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Wulf
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rössler
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Basel , Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riecher-Rössler
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Basel , Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Undine E
authors.initials: UE
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: The Zurich Program for Sustainable Development of Mental Health Services, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich , Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Heekeren
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Medical Image Analysis Centre, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Department of Psychosis Studies, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, London, UK.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Borgwardt