Grey matter deficits and symptom profile in first episode schizophrenia

Whitford, Thomas J.; Farrow, Tom F.D.; Gomes, Lavier; Brennan, John; Harris, Anthony W.F.; Williams, Leanne M.

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2005.05.010

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 139, Issue 3 , Pages 229-238, 30 August 2005

Grey matter deficits and symptom profile in first episode schizophrenia

Thomas J. Whitford
- The Brain Dynamics Centre, Acacia House, Westmead Hospital and Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
- Corresponding author. The Brain Dynamics Centre, Acacia House, Westmead NSW 2145, Australia. Tel.: +61 2 9845 8179; fax: +61 2 9845 8190.
Tom F.D. Farrow
- The Brain Dynamics Centre, Acacia House, Westmead Hospital and Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
- SCANLab, Department of Academic Clinical Psychiatry, University of Sheffield, The Longley Centre, Northern General Hospital, Norwood Grange Drive, Sheffield, S5 7JT, UK
Lavier Gomes
- Department of Radiology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
John Brennan
- Department of Psychiatry, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
Anthony W.F. Harris
- The Brain Dynamics Centre, Acacia House, Westmead Hospital and Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
- Department of Psychiatry, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
Leanne M. Williams
- The Brain Dynamics Centre, Acacia House, Westmead Hospital and Western Clinical School, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
- School of Psychology, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

Received 10 June 2004; received in revised form 20 January 2005; accepted 23 May 2005.

Abstract

Several studies have investigated grey matter reductions in first episode schizophrenia (FES), but few have examined the relationship between grey matter reduction and clinical profile. A group of 31 patients with strictly defined FES and 30 healthy controls underwent T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Voxel-based morphometry in SPM99 was used to identify four distinct regions of grey matter reduction in the FES subjects. The regions of interest (ROIs) were in the left ventral prefrontal cortex (ROI 1), left parietal and temporal cortices (ROI 2), right cerebellum (ROI 3), and right frontal and parietal cortices (ROI 4). These regions of reduction were transformed into binary masks, which were convolved with patients’ pre-processed grey matter images. Patients' grey matter volumes in these regions were correlated with their composite scores on the following three symptom dimensions: Psychomotor Poverty, Disorganization and Reality Distortion. The volumes of ROIs 1, 2 and 4 were found to be significantly correlated with the Reality Distortion syndrome score. Our findings indicate that distinct, widespread grey matter reductions are present very early in the course of schizophrenia. The results also suggest a possible structural underpinning for the abnormal brain activity typically associated with symptoms of Reality Distortion.

Keywords: Structural MRI, Psychopathology, Voxel-based morphometry, SPM