White matter connectivity and psychosis in ultra-high-risk subjects: A diffusion tensor fiber tracking study

Peters, Bart D.; Dingemans, Peter M.; Dekker, Nienke; Blaas, Jorik; Akkerman, Erik; van Amelsvoort, Therese A.; Majoie, Charles B.; den Heeten, Gerard J.; Linszen, Don H.; de Haan, Lieuwe

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2009.10.008

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 181, Issue 1 , Pages 44-50, 30 January 2010

White matter connectivity and psychosis in ultra-high-risk subjects: A diffusion tensor fiber tracking study

Bart D. Peters
- Department of Psychiatry, Adolescentclinic, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 5, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +31 20 8913500; fax: +31 20 8913701.
Peter M. Dingemans
- Department of Psychiatry, Adolescentclinic, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 5, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Nienke Dekker
- Department of Psychiatry, Adolescentclinic, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 5, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Jorik Blaas
- Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Erik Akkerman
- Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Therese A. van Amelsvoort
- Department of Psychiatry, Adolescentclinic, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 5, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Charles B. Majoie
- Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Gerard J. den Heeten
- Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Don H. Linszen
- Department of Psychiatry, Adolescentclinic, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 5, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Lieuwe de Haan
- Department of Psychiatry, Adolescentclinic, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 5, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Received 15 November 2008; received in revised form 11 October 2009; accepted 18 October 2009.

Abstract

This study assessed with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) whether ultra-high-risk subjects who later develop a psychotic disorder (UHR-P) show abnormalities in association white matter fiber tracts as compared to UHR subjects who do not convert to psychosis (UHR-NP) and healthy controls. Participants comprised 17 male UHR subjects and 10 male healthy controls, who received baseline DTI scans before clinical follow-up. The uncinate and arcuate fasciculi, anterior and dorsal cingulate, and subdivisions of the corpus callosum were calculated and visualized, and tract-specific measurements were performed. At 24-month follow-up seven UHR subjects had developed a first psychotic episode. Fractional anisotropy in baseline DTI scans, including left-right asymmetry measures, did not differ between the groups. Thus, DTI measures of these association white matter tracts were not biological markers of psychosis in our UHR sample. Abnormalities of these fiber tracts may develop around or after onset of psychosis. However, further DTI studies in UHR subjects are needed in larger samples.

Keywords: Schizophrenia, Ultra-high-risk, Diffusion tensor imaging, White matter