Centre for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, CNSR and Centre for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, CINS, Mental Health Centre Glostrup, University of Copenhagen, Glostrup, Denmark; Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Centre for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, CNSR and Centre for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research, CINS, Mental Health Centre Glostrup, University of Copenhagen, Glostrup, Denmark; Functional Imaging Unit, Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Rigshospitalet Glostrup, University of Copenhagen, Glostrup, Denmark.
Cortex. 2021 Jun;139:282-297. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.03.003. Epub 2021 Mar 18.
Cognitive functions have been associated with white matter (WM) microstructure in schizophrenia, but most studies are limited by examining only select cognitive measures and single WM tracts in chronic, medicated patients. It is unclear if the cognition-WM relationship differs between antipsychotic-naïve patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls, as differential associations have not been directly examined. Here we examine if there are differential patterns of associations between cognition and WM microstructure in first-episode antipsychotic-naïve patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls, and we characterize reliable contributors to the pattern of associations across multiple cognitive domains and WM regions, in order to elucidate white matter contribution to the neural underpinnings of cognitive deficits.
Thirty-six first-episode antipsychotic-naïve patients with schizophrenia and 52 matched healthy controls underwent cognitive tests and diffusion-weighted imaging on a 3T Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner. Using a multivariate partial least squares correlation analysis, we included 14 cognitive variables and mean fractional anisotropy values of 48 WM regions.
Initial analyses showed significant group differences in both measures of WM and cognition. There was no group interaction effect in the pattern of associations between cognition and WM microstructure. The combined analysis of patients and controls lead to a significant pattern of associations (omnibus test p = .015). Thirty-four regions and seven cognitive functions contributed reliably to the associations.
The lack of an interaction effect suggests similar associations in first-episode antipsychotic-naïve patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. This, together with the differences in both WM and cognitive measurements, supports the involvement of WM in cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Our findings add to the field by showing a coherent picture of the overall pattern of association between cognition and WM. These findings increase our understanding of the impact of WM on cognition, contributing to the search for neuromarkers of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.
认知功能与精神分裂症的白质（WM）微观结构有关，但大多数研究仅限于检查慢性、用药的患者的特定认知测量和单一 WM 束。尚不清楚抗精神病药初治精神分裂症患者与健康对照者之间的认知- WM 关系是否存在差异，因为尚未直接检查差异关联。在这里，我们研究了抗精神病药初治精神分裂症患者和健康对照者之间的认知与 WM 微观结构之间是否存在差异模式的关联，我们描述了多个认知领域和 WM 区域之间关联模式的可靠贡献者，以阐明 WM 对认知缺陷的神经基础的贡献。
36 名抗精神病药初治的精神分裂症患者和 52 名匹配的健康对照者在 3T 磁共振成像扫描仪上进行了认知测试和弥散加权成像。使用多元偏最小二乘相关分析，我们包括了 14 个认知变量和 48 个 WM 区域的平均分数各向异性值。
初步分析显示，WM 和认知测量都存在显著的组间差异。认知和 WM 微观结构之间的关联模式没有组间交互作用。患者和对照组的联合分析导致了显著的关联模式（总体检验 p = 0.015）。34 个区域和 7 个认知功能对关联有可靠的贡献。
缺乏交互作用效应表明，抗精神病药初治的精神分裂症患者和健康对照者之间存在相似的关联。这与 WM 和认知测量的差异一起，支持 WM 参与精神分裂症的认知缺陷。我们的研究结果通过显示认知与 WM 之间的总体关联模式的清晰图片，为该领域做出了贡献。这些发现增加了我们对 WM 对认知的影响的理解，为寻找精神分裂症认知缺陷的神经标志物做出了贡献。
