Brain structural abnormalities in first episode psychosis: A multimodal analysis

IntroductionWhite matter abnormalities play a prominent role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies showed a widespread decrease in fractional anisotropy (FA) in psychotic disorders.AimsTo examine white and grey matter abnormalities in first episode psychosis (FEP).MethodsWe obtained T1-weighted and DTI magnetic resonance images (1.5 T) from 8 right-handed drug-naïve FEP patients and 8 healthy controls. The DTI data set was used to calculate FA maps; we carried-out optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis of grey matter (GM) and FA maps using SPM2.Patients were assessed with a neuropsychological battery comprising the Trail Making Test, the Stroop Colour Word Test, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and a test of Facial Affect recognition.ResultsThe voxelwise analysis showed decreased FA in the superior longitudinal and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculi, bilaterally, and in the left uncinate fasciculus. We observed reduced GM volume in the left frontal cortex (Brodmann areas [BA] 47, 13, 11, 10, and 9) and in right frontal (BA6), temporal (BA34) and occipital (BA 18, 19, and 30) cortex.Neuropsychological assessment showed impaired executive function and deficit in facial affect recognition.ConclusionOur findings showed fronto-temporal disconnectivity in FEP and structural alterations in both cortical and subcortical regions.Neuroanatomical findings are consistent with patients’ neuropsychological performance.Further studies to establish a relationship between white and grey matter disarray on one hand and neuropsychological testing are needed.

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Improved facial affect recognition in patients with first-episode psychosis

Early Intervention in Psychiatry ◽

10.1111/eip.12738 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 977-983 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Vasilios P. Bozikas ◽

Aikaterini Dardagani ◽

Eleni Parlapani ◽

Evangelos Ntouros ◽

Athanasios Lagoudis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

First Episode Psychosis ◽

Facial Affect ◽

First Episode ◽

Affect Recognition ◽

Facial Affect Recognition ◽

Episode Psychosis

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Victimization, violence and facial affect recognition in a community sample of first‐episode psychosis patients

Early Intervention in Psychiatry ◽

10.1111/eip.12853 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 283-292

Author(s):

Henning Hachtel ◽

Rachael Fullam ◽

Aisling Malone ◽

Brendan P. Murphy ◽

Christian Huber ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Sample ◽

First Episode Psychosis ◽

Facial Affect ◽

First Episode ◽

Affect Recognition ◽

Facial Affect Recognition ◽

Episode Psychosis

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Facial affect recognition in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.bp.107.039784 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 192 (1) ◽

pp. 67-68 ◽

Cited By ~ 121

Author(s):

Jean Addington ◽

David Penn ◽

Scott W. Woods ◽

Donald Addington ◽

Diana O. Perkins

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

Facial Affect ◽

First Episode ◽

Affect Recognition ◽

Facial Affect Recognition ◽

Clinical High Risk ◽

Identification Task ◽

Episode Psychosis ◽

Patient Groups ◽

Better Than

SummaryFacial affect discrimination and identification were assessed in 86 clinical high-risk individuals and compared with 50 individuals with first-episode psychosis, 53 with multiepisode schizophrenia and 55 non-psychiatric controls. On the identification task the non-psychiatric controls performed significantly better than all other groups, and on discrimination significantly better than both patient groups. Deficits in facial affect recognition appear to be present before the onset of psychosis and may be a vulnerability marker.

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Speed of facial affect intensity recognition as an endophenotype of first-episode psychosis and associated limbic-cortical grey matter systems

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291712001341 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 591-602 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

A. M. Dean ◽

E. Goodby ◽

C. Ooi ◽

P. J. Nathan ◽

B. R. Lennox ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Grey Matter ◽

Anatomical Variation ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

First Episode Psychosis ◽

Facial Affect ◽

First Episode ◽

Control Group ◽

Affect Intensity ◽

Episode Psychosis ◽

Affect Processing

BackgroundPsychotic disorders are highly heritable such that the unaffected relatives of patients may manifest characteristics, or endophenotypes, that are more closely related to risk genes than the overt clinical condition. Facial affect processing is dependent on a distributed cortico-limbic network that is disrupted in psychosis. This study assessed facial affect processing and related brain structure as a candidate endophenotype of first-episode psychosis (FEP).MethodThree samples comprising 30 FEP patients, 30 of their first-degree relatives and 31 unrelated healthy controls underwent assessment of facial affect processing and structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data. Multivariate analysis (partial least squares, PLS) was used to identify a grey matter (GM) system in which anatomical variation was associated with variation in facial affect processing speed.ResultsThe groups did not differ in their accuracy of facial affect intensity rating but differed significantly in speed of response, with controls responding faster than relatives, who responded faster than patients. Within the control group, variation in speed of affect processing was significantly associated with variation of GM density in amygdala, lateral temporal cortex, frontal cortex and cerebellum. However, this association between cortico-limbic GM density and speed of facial affect processing was absent in patients and their relatives.ConclusionsSpeed of facial affect processing presents as a candidate endophenotype of FEP. The normal association between speed of facial affect processing and cortico-limbic GM variation was disrupted in FEP patients and their relatives.

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Grey matter correlates of minor physical anomalies in the ÆSOP first-episode psychosis study

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.bp.105.016337 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 189 (3) ◽

pp. 221-228 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

K. Dean ◽

P. Fearon ◽

K. Morgan ◽

G. Hutchinson ◽

K. Orr ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Grey Matter ◽

Psychotic Disorders ◽

Brain Regions ◽

First Episode Psychosis ◽

Magnetic Resonance Images ◽

First Episode ◽

Lingual Gyrus ◽

Episode Psychosis ◽

Minor Physical Anomalies ◽

The Brain

BackgroundMinor physical anomalies are more prevalent among people with psychosis. This supports a neurodevelopmental aetiology for psychotic disorders, since these anomalies and the brain are both ectodermally derived. However, little is understood about the brain regions implicated in this association.AimsTo examine the relationship between minor physical anomalies and grey matter structure in a sample of patients with first-episode psychosis.MethodSixty patients underwent assessment of minor physical anomalies with the Lane scale. High-resolution magnetic resonance images and voxel-based methods of image analysis were used to investigate brain structure in these patients.ResultsThe total anomalies score was associated with a grey matter reduction in the prefrontal cortex and precuneus and with a grey matter excess in the basal ganglia, thalamus and lingual gyrus.ConclusionsMinor physical anomalies in a sample of patients with first-episode psychosis are associated with regional grey matter changes. These regional changes may be important in the pathogenesis of psychotic disorder.

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Role of glia in prefrontal white matter abnormalities in first episode psychosis or mania detected by diffusion tensor spectroscopy

Schizophrenia Research ◽

10.1016/j.schres.2019.05.018 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 209 ◽

pp. 64-71 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Kathryn E. Lewandowski ◽

Fei Du ◽

Xiaoying Fan ◽

Xi Chen ◽

Polly Huynh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

White Matter ◽

Diffusion Tensor ◽

First Episode Psychosis ◽

First Episode ◽

White Matter Abnormalities ◽

Episode Psychosis

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VARIATION IN GREY MATTER VOLUME WITH DEGREE OF INSIGHT IN FIRST EPISODE PSYCHOSIS AND CHRONIC SCHIZOPHRENIA

Schizophrenia Research ◽

10.1016/j.schres.2010.02.589 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 117 (2-3) ◽

pp. 340

Author(s):

J. McFarland ◽

D. Cannon ◽

H. Schmidt ◽

M. Ahmed ◽

S. Hehir ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Grey Matter ◽

Chronic Schizophrenia ◽

First Episode Psychosis ◽

First Episode ◽

Grey Matter Volume ◽

Matter Volume ◽

Episode Psychosis

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O5.1. GREY MATTER BRAIN CHANGES IN MEDICATED AND UNMEDICATED FIRST EPISODE PSYCHOSIS: A RANDOMISED PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL

Schizophrenia Bulletin ◽

10.1093/schbul/sbz021.209 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 45 (Supplement_2) ◽

pp. S172-S173

Author(s):

Sidhant Chopra ◽

Alex Fornito ◽

Shona Francey ◽

Brian O’Donoghue ◽

Barnaby Nelson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Grey Matter ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

First Episode Psychosis ◽

First Episode ◽

Episode Psychosis ◽

Brain Changes

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Specificity proteins 1 and 4, hippocampal volume and first-episode psychosis

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.bp.114.152140 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 208 (6) ◽

pp. 591-592 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Montserrat Fusté ◽

Iria Meléndez-Pérez ◽

Victoria Villalta-Gil ◽

Raquel Pinacho ◽

Núria Villalmanzo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mononuclear Cells ◽

Hippocampal Volume ◽

First Episode Psychosis ◽

Magnetic Resonance Images ◽

First Episode ◽

Peripheral Blood Mononuclear ◽

Specificity Protein 1 ◽

Episode Psychosis ◽

Morphometry Analysis ◽

Specificity Protein

SummaryWe assessed specificity protein 1 (SP1) and 4 (SP4) transcription factor levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and conducted a voxel-based morphometry analysis on brain structural magnetic resonance images from 11 patients with first-episode psychosis and 14 healthy controls. We found lower SP1 and SP4 levels in patients, which correlated positively with right hippocampal volume. These results extend previous evidence showing that such transcription factors may constitute a molecular pathway to the development of psychosis.

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