Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Biol Psychiatry. 2017 Nov 15;82(10):746-755. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.06.013. Epub 2017 Jun 21.
Emerging evidence suggests disruptions in the wiring organization of the brain's network in schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD). As the importance of genetic predisposition has been firmly established in these illnesses, children (offspring) of patients constitute an at-risk population. This study examines connectome organization in children at familial high risk for psychosis.
Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans were collected from 127 nonpsychotic offspring 8 to 18 years of age (average age = 13.5 years) of a parent diagnosed with SZ (SZ offspring; n = 28) or BD (BD offspring; N = 60) and community control subjects (n = 39). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were available for 82 subjects. Anatomical and functional brain networks were reconstructed and examined using graph theoretical analysis.
SZ offspring were found to show connectivity deficits of the brain's central rich club (RC) system relative to both control subjects and BD offspring. The disruption in anatomical RC connectivity in SZ offspring was associated with increased modularity of the functional connectome. In addition, increased coupling between structural and functional connectivity of long-distance connections was observed in both SZ offspring and BD offspring.
This study shows lower levels of anatomical RC connectivity in nonpsychotic young offspring of SZ patients. This finding suggests that the brain's anatomical RC system is affected in at-risk youths, reflecting a connectome signature of familial risk for psychotic illness. Moreover, finding no RC deficits in offspring of BD patients suggest a differential effect of genetic predisposition for SZ versus BD on the developmental formation of the connectome.
新出现的证据表明，精神分裂症（SZ）和双相情感障碍（BD）患者大脑网络的连接组织出现中断。由于遗传易感性在这些疾病中的重要性已得到充分证实，患者的子女（后代）构成了高危人群。本研究检查了有精神分裂症和双相情感障碍家族史的儿童的连接组组织。
对 127 名未患精神病的父母被诊断为 SZ（SZ 后代；n=28）或 BD（BD 后代；n=60）的 8 至 18 岁（平均年龄=13.5 岁）的非精神病后代和社区对照组受试者（n=39）进行了弥散加权磁共振成像扫描。82 名受试者进行了静息态功能磁共振成像扫描。使用图论分析对解剖和功能大脑网络进行了重建和检查。
与对照组和 BD 后代相比，SZ 后代的大脑中央丰富俱乐部（RC）系统的连接能力存在缺陷。SZ 后代解剖 RC 连接中断与功能连接网络的模块性增加有关。此外，在 SZ 后代和 BD 后代中都观察到长距离连接的结构和功能连接之间的耦合增加。
本研究表明，SZ 患者非精神病年轻后代的解剖 RC 连接水平较低。这一发现表明，大脑的解剖 RC 系统在高危青少年中受到影响，反映了家族性精神疾病风险的连接组特征。此外，BD 患者后代的 RC 无缺陷表明，遗传易感性对 SZ 和 BD 的发展形成连接组的影响存在差异。
