Investigating relationships between cortical thickness and cognitive performance in patients with schizophrenia and healthy adults

Hartberg, Cecilie Bhandari; Lawyer, Glenn; Nyman, Håkan; Jönsson, Erik G.; Haukvik, Unn K.; Saetre, Peter; Bjerkan, Petr S.; Andreassen, Ole A.; Hall, Håkan; Agartz, Ingrid

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.01.001

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 182, Issue 2 , Pages 123-133, 30 May 2010

Investigating relationships between cortical thickness and cognitive performance in patients with schizophrenia and healthy adults

Cecilie Bhandari Hartberg
- Institute of Psychiatry, Section Vinderen, University of Oslo, Norway
- Corresponding author. P.O. Box 85 Vinderen, University of Oslo, N-0319 Oslo, Norway. Tel.: +47 22029967; fax: +47 22495862.
Glenn Lawyer
- Institute of Psychiatry, Section Vinderen, University of Oslo, Norway
Håkan Nyman
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychiatry Section, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Erik G. Jönsson
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychiatry Section, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Unn K. Haukvik
- Institute of Psychiatry, Section Vinderen, University of Oslo, Norway
Peter Saetre
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychiatry Section, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Petr S. Bjerkan
- Institute of Psychiatry, Section Vinderen, University of Oslo, Norway
Ole A. Andreassen
- Department of Psychiatry, Ulleval University Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry, University of Oslo, Norway
Håkan Hall
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychiatry Section, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Ingrid Agartz
- Institute of Psychiatry, Section Vinderen, University of Oslo, Norway
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychiatry Section, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Department of Psychiatric Research, Oslo, Norway

Received 28 May 2009; received in revised form 20 October 2009; accepted 7 January 2010.

Abstract

Relationships between prefrontal and temporal lobe grey matter volumes as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging and neurocognitive test results have been reported in schizophrenia. This investigation aimed to localize brain regions where cortical thickness and neurocognitive performance were related, and investigate if such relationships might differ in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. Sixty-seven patients with schizophrenia and 69 healthy controls were characterized by neurocognitive testing and by brain cortical thickness maps. Putative cortical thickness/cognitive score relationships were investigated with contrast analyses of general linear models for the combined sample. Regions in which relationships were present were further investigated for diagnostic interaction. In the combined sample, significant positive relationships were found between frontal, temporal and occipital regions and tests for verbal IQ, verbal learning and executive functions. Diagnostic interaction was found for the relationships between verbal IQ and the right temporo-occipital junction and the left middle occipital gyrus. In conclusion, the significant relationships between cortical thickness and neurocognitive performances were localized in brain areas known to be involved in cognition. The relationships were similar in patients and controls, except for the right temporo-occipital and left occipital cortical areas, indicating a disrupted structure–function relationship in patients with schizophrenia compared to healthy control subjects.

Keywords: Brain, Cerebral cortex, MRI, Neuropsychological tests