Reduced brain cortical folding in schizophrenia revealed in two independent samples

Ragnar Nesvåg; Marie Schaer; Unn K Haukvik; Lars T Westlye; Lars M Rimol; Elisabeth H Lange; Cecilie B Hartberg; Marie-Christine Ottet; Ingrid Melle; Ole A Andreassen; Erik G Jönsson; Ingrid Agartz; Stephan Eliez

doi:10.1016/j.schres.2013.11.032

Reduced brain cortical folding in schizophrenia revealed in two independent samples

Schizophr Res. 2014 Feb;152(2-3):333-8. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2013.11.032. Epub 2013 Dec 22.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
² Office Médico-Pédagogique, Department of Psychiatry, Geneva Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland; Stanford Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA, USA.
³ Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ K. G. Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo & Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
⁶ Office Médico-Pédagogique, Department of Psychiatry, Geneva Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁷ Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; K. G. Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo & Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
⁸ Department of Clinical Neuroscience, HUBIN Project, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁹ Department of Psychiatric Research, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; K. G. Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo & Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Clinical Neuroscience, HUBIN Project, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: Ingrid.agartz@medisin.uio.no.

PMID: 24365403
DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2013.11.032

Abstract

The cerebral cortex is highly convoluted, and principal folding patterns are determined early in life. Degree of cortical folding in adult life may index aberrations in brain development. Results from previous studies of cortical folding in schizophrenia are inconsistent. Here we investigated cortical folding patterns in the hitherto largest sample of patients with schizophrenia drawn from two independent cohorts. Magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired from 207 patients and 206 healthy subjects recruited to two separate research projects in Sweden and Norway. Local gyrification index (lGI) was estimated continuously across the cortex using automated methods. Group differences in lGI were analyzed using general linear models. Patients had lower lGI in three large clusters of the cortex with peak differences found in the left precentral gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, and right precuneus. Similar, although not completely overlapping results were found when the two cohorts were analyzed separately. There were no significant interaction effects between age and diagnosis and gender and diagnosis. The finding of reduced degree of folding in large regions of the cerebral cortex across two independent samples indicates that reduced gyrification is an inherent feature of the brain pathology in schizophrenia.

Keywords: Cortical thickness; FreeSurfer; Local gyrification index; Magnetic resonance imaging.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Age Factors
Cerebral Cortex / pathology*
Female
Functional Laterality
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
International Cooperation
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Aged
Retrospective Studies
Schizophrenia / pathology*