Global brain asymmetry is increased in schizophrenia and related to avolition.
OBJECTIVE
Schizophrenia may be the result of a failure of the normal lateralization process of the brain. However, whole-brain asymmetry has not been assessed up to date. Here, we propose a novel measure of global brain asymmetry based on the Dice coefficient to quantify similarity between brain hemispheres.


METHODS
Global gray and white matter asymmetry was calculated from high-resolution T1 structural images acquired from 24 patients with schizophrenia and 26 healthy controls, age- and sex-matched. Some of the analyses were replicated in a much larger sample (n = 759) obtained from open-access online databases.


RESULTS
Patients with schizophrenia had more global gray matter asymmetry than controls. Additionally, increased gray matter asymmetry was associated with avolition, whereas the inverse relationship was found for anxiety at a trend level. These analyses were replicated in a larger sample and confirmed previous results.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that global gray matter asymmetry is related to the concept of developmental stability and is a useful indicator of perturbations during neurodevelopment.
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
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http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4104-6235
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Núñez
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
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Paipa
School of Life & Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, UK.
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Senior
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
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Coromina
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.|Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.|Section of Clinical Psychology, Department of Education, Psychology, and Philosophy, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain.
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Siddi
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain.
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Ochoa
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain.
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Brébion
Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.|Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain.
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http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6326-7648
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Stephan-Otto
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult
neurodevelopment; neuroimaging; schizophrenia