Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam; Generation R Study group, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam.
Biol Psychiatry. 2022 Nov 15;92(10):781-790. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.05.013. Epub 2022 May 16.
Psychotic disorders have been widely associated with structural brain abnormalities. However, it is unclear whether brain structure predicts psychotic experiences in youth from the general population, owing to an overall paucity of studies and predominantly cross-sectional designs. Here, the authors investigated longitudinal associations between brain morphology and hallucinations from childhood to early adolescence.
This study was embedded in the population-based Generation R Study. Children underwent structural neuroimaging at age 10 years (N = 2042); a subsample received a second scan at age 14 years (n = 964). Hallucinations were assessed at ages 10 and 14 years and studied as a binary variable. Cross-lagged panel models and generalized linear mixed-effects models were fitted to examine longitudinal associations between brain morphology and hallucinations.
Smaller total gray and white matter volumes and total cortical surface area at baseline were associated with a higher occurrence of hallucinations between ages 10 and 14 years. The regions associated with hallucinations were widespread, including the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes, as well as the insula and cingulate cortex. Analyses of subcortical structures revealed that smaller baseline hippocampal volumes were longitudinally associated with hallucinations, although this association was no longer significant following adjustment for intracranial volume. No evidence for reverse temporality was observed (i.e., hallucinations predicting brain differences).
The findings from this longitudinal study suggest that global structural brain differences are associated with the development of hallucinations. These results extend findings from clinical populations and provide evidence for a neurodevelopmental vulnerability across the psychosis continuum.
精神障碍与结构性脑异常广泛相关。然而，由于研究总体匮乏且主要采用横断面设计，尚不清楚大脑结构是否能预测一般人群青少年时期的精神体验。本研究旨在探究从儿童期到青春期早期，大脑形态与幻觉之间的纵向关联。
该研究嵌入于基于人群的“世代研究”中。儿童在 10 岁时进行结构神经影像学检查（N=2042）；亚组中有 964 人在 14 岁时接受了第二次扫描。在 10 岁和 14 岁时评估了幻觉，并将其作为二分类变量进行研究。采用交叉滞后面板模型和广义线性混合效应模型来检验大脑形态与幻觉之间的纵向关联。
基线时总灰质和白质体积以及总皮质表面积较小与 10 至 14 岁期间幻觉的发生频率较高相关。与幻觉相关的区域广泛，包括额叶、顶叶、颞叶和枕叶，以及岛叶和扣带回皮质。对皮质下结构的分析表明，基线时海马体积较小与幻觉存在纵向关联，但在调整脑容量后，这种关联不再显著。未观察到反向时间性的证据（即幻觉预测大脑差异）。
这项纵向研究的结果表明，整体结构性脑差异与幻觉的发展有关。这些结果扩展了来自临床人群的发现，并为贯穿精神病谱的神经发育易感性提供了证据。
