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Abstract

Objective

The authors sought to explore whether anatomical and functional brain deficits are present in similar or different brain regions early in the course of schizophrenia, before antipsychotic treatment, and whether these deficits are more severe or otherwise different in patients with prominent negative symptoms.

Method

A total of 100 drug-naive first-episode schizophrenia patients and 100 matched healthy comparison subjects underwent structural and resting-state functional MRI scanning. Gray matter volume and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations during resting-state functional studies were measured.

Results

Group comparisons of gray matter volume showed significant differences mainly in thalamo-cortical networks, while alterations in the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations were observed in fronto-parietal and default mode networks. Thus, different brain regions had alterations in gray matter volume and resting state physiology. These changes did not correlate with the duration of untreated illness, nor with acute clinical symptom severity. Patients with prominent negative symptoms had greater regional alterations in brain anatomy, particularly in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, while the pattern of functional alterations was unrelated to severity of negative symptoms.

Conclusions

Anatomical and resting-state functional deficits were observed in different brain regions, indicating that anatomical and functional brain abnormalities are significantly dissociated in the early course of schizophrenia. The lack of association of these abnormalities with illness duration and episode severity suggests that these anatomical and functional changes may be early-evolving features of the illness that are relatively stable early in the course of illness. The different structural deficits of regional gray matter observed in patients with prominent negative symptoms may provide unique insight into the early regional neuropathology of this symptom dimension in schizophrenia.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to American Journal of Psychiatry
Go to American Journal of Psychiatry
American Journal of Psychiatry
Pages: 1308 - 1316
PubMed: 23732942

History

Received: 2 September 2012
Revision received: 13 November 2012
Revision received: 4 February 2013
Accepted: 4 March 2013
Published online: 1 November 2013
Published in print: November 2013

Authors

Details

Wenting Ren, M.S.
From the Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, Center for Medical Imaging, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China; the Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Science/Peking Union Medical College, Beijing; the Department of Psychiatry, Stat Key Lab of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; and the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
Su Lui, M.D., Ph.D.
From the Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, Center for Medical Imaging, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China; the Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Science/Peking Union Medical College, Beijing; the Department of Psychiatry, Stat Key Lab of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; and the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
Wei Deng, M.D.
From the Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, Center for Medical Imaging, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China; the Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Science/Peking Union Medical College, Beijing; the Department of Psychiatry, Stat Key Lab of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; and the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
Fei Li, M.D.
From the Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, Center for Medical Imaging, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China; the Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Science/Peking Union Medical College, Beijing; the Department of Psychiatry, Stat Key Lab of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; and the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
Mingli Li, M.D.
From the Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, Center for Medical Imaging, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China; the Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Science/Peking Union Medical College, Beijing; the Department of Psychiatry, Stat Key Lab of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; and the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
Xiaoqi Huang, M.D.
From the Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, Center for Medical Imaging, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China; the Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Science/Peking Union Medical College, Beijing; the Department of Psychiatry, Stat Key Lab of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; and the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
Yuqing Wang, Ph.D.
From the Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, Center for Medical Imaging, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China; the Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Science/Peking Union Medical College, Beijing; the Department of Psychiatry, Stat Key Lab of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; and the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
Tao Li, M.D.
From the Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, Center for Medical Imaging, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China; the Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Science/Peking Union Medical College, Beijing; the Department of Psychiatry, Stat Key Lab of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; and the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
John A. Sweeney, Ph.D.
From the Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, Center for Medical Imaging, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China; the Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Science/Peking Union Medical College, Beijing; the Department of Psychiatry, Stat Key Lab of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; and the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
Qiyong Gong, M.D., Ph.D.
From the Huaxi MR Research Center, Department of Radiology, Center for Medical Imaging, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China; the Department of Radiation Oncology, Cancer Hospital (Institute), Chinese Academy of Medical Science/Peking Union Medical College, Beijing; the Department of Psychiatry, Stat Key Lab of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; and the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.

Notes

Address correspondence to Dr. Lui ([email protected]) or Dr. Gong ([email protected]).

Funding Information

Dr. Sweeney has been on advisory boards for Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Roche, and Takeda and has received grant support from Janssen. The other authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.
Supplementary Material
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation (grants 81222018, 81030027, 81227002, and 81220108013); the Distinguished Professorship awarded to Dr. Qiyong Gong by the China Medical Board administered by the Institute of International Education, Washington, D.C.; the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University of China; and the National Key Technologies R&D Program of China (program 2012BAI01B03).

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