Increased brain gyrification and cortical thinning in winter-born patients with schizophrenia spectrum

Misako Torigoe; Tsutomu Takahashi; Yoichiro Takayanagi; Daiki Sasabayahi; Haruko Kobayashi; Kazumi Sakamoto; Yusuke Yuasa; Noa Tsujii; Kyo Noguchi; Michio Suzuki

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1368681

Increased brain gyrification and cortical thinning in winter-born patients with schizophrenia spectrum

Front Psychiatry. 2024 Apr 24:15:1368681. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1368681. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Misako Torigoe^{1

2}, Tsutomu Takahashi^{1

2}, Yoichiro Takayanagi^{1

3}, Daiki Sasabayahi^{1

2}, Haruko Kobayashi^{1

2}, Kazumi Sakamoto^{1

2}, Yusuke Yuasa^{1

2}, Noa Tsujii⁴, Kyo Noguchi⁵, Michio Suzuki^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuropsychiatry, University of Toyama Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toyama, Japan.
² Research Center for Idling Brain Science, University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan.
³ Arisawabashi Hospital, Toyama, Japan.
⁴ Department of Child Mental Health and Development, Toyama University Hospital, Toyama, Japan.
⁵ Department of Radiology, University of Toyama Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Science, Toyama, Japan.

Abstract

Introduction: The findings of epidemiological studies suggest that a relationship exists between the risk of schizophrenia and winter births in the Northern Hemisphere, which may affect the process of fetal neurodevelopment. However, it remains unclear whether birth seasons are associated with the brain morphological characteristics of patients within the schizophrenia spectrum.

Methods: The present magnetic resonance imaging study using FreeSurfer software examined the effects of birth seasons (i.e., summer-born vs. winter-born) on the comprehensive brain surface characteristics of 101 patients with schizophrenia (48 summer- and 53 winter-born), 46 with schizotypal disorder (20 summer- and 26 winter-born), and 76 healthy control subjects (28 summer- and 48 winter-born).

Results: In comparisons with summer-born patients, winter-born patients, particularly those with schizophrenia, showed significantly increased gyrification mainly in the left lateral occipital and inferior temporal regions and right fronto-parietal region as well as cortical thinning in the right superior frontal region. Birth seasons did not significantly affect the local gyrification index or cortical thickness in healthy controls.

Discussion: The present whole-brain surface-based analysis demonstrated that brain morphological characteristics reported in the schizophrenia spectrum were more pronounced in winter-born patients than in summer-born patients, suggesting the contribution of early neurodevelopmental factors associated with birth seasons to the pathophysiology of the schizophrenia spectrum.

Keywords: birth season; gyrification; magnetic resonance imaging; neurodevelopment; schizophrenia.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP23K07031 to NT, JP20H03598 to MS, and JP22K15745 to DS, and by Health and Labour Sciences Research Grants for Comprehensive Research on Persons with Disabilities from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) Grant Numbers JP19dk0307029 to MS and JP22dk0307103h0002 to TT. This study was also supported by a grant from SENSHIN Medical Research Foundation to TT. These funding sources had no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.