Kjelkenes Rikka, Fernandez-Cabello Sara, Voldsbekk Irene, Bukhari Madelene Christin Holm, Dahl Andreas, Lofthus Ingvild Sandø, Rise Henning Stople, Tamnes Christian K, Maximov Ivan I, Westlye Lars T
Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Center for Precision Psychiatry, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Brain Behav. 2025 Jun;15(6):e70587. doi: 10.1002/brb3.70587.
Psychotic-like experiences (PLE) represent a risk factor for later psychotic disorders and a marker for general mental distress. The connectivity and microstructure of key brain white matter pathways, including fronto-temporal trajectories, have been implicated in psychosis and psychosis-risk. Although sex differences in PLE prevalence and characteristics have been reported, most neuroimaging studies of PLE have primarily included mixed-sex, samples and little research has been carried out in females only. This study examines the associations between PLE and white matter characteristics in young to middle-aged females.
We analyzed cross-sectional diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) and self-reported data from 661 females aged 9-44 years using the 15-item version of The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) questionnaire. Associations between CAPE subscales and other psychopathology measures were tested. Using linked independent component analysis (LICA), we decomposed the voxel-wise data from 24 dMRI metrics across five different diffusion models into 10 spatially independent components. We then examined the association between the LICA subject weights and age. Next, we tested for associations between the LICA subject weights and both CAPE total and subscales scores using Bayesian statistics.
PLE were broadly associated with various domains of psychopathology and psychosocial factors. Moderate evidence emerged for an association between PLE and an LICA component reflecting a broad and complex pattern of diffusivity in major pathways, including the inferior fronto- occipital fasciculus, anterior thalamic radiation, and forceps minor. The persecutory ideations subscale showed the strongest evidence of an effect.
PLE in young females are associated with a distinct multimodal white matter pattern reflecting microstructural characteristics in key commissural, association, and thalamocortical pathways in young females. The findings support that LICA is a valuable tool for fusing and decomposing advanced dMRI metrics to delineate white matter patterns that show sensitivity to PLE and mental distress.
类精神病体验（PLE）是后期精神病性障碍的一个风险因素，也是一般精神困扰的一个标志。关键脑白质通路的连通性和微观结构，包括额颞叶轨迹，与精神病和精神病风险有关。尽管已有报道称PLE的患病率和特征存在性别差异，但大多数关于PLE的神经影像学研究主要纳入了混合性别的样本，针对女性的研究较少。本研究探讨了年轻至中年女性中PLE与白质特征之间的关联。
我们使用15项版的《精神体验社区评估》（CAPE）问卷，分析了661名年龄在9至44岁之间女性的横断面扩散磁共振成像（dMRI）和自我报告数据。测试了CAPE分量表与其他精神病理学指标之间的关联。使用链接独立成分分析（LICA），我们将来自五个不同扩散模型的24个dMRI指标的体素级数据分解为10个空间独立成分。然后我们检查了LICA受试者权重与年龄之间的关联。接下来，我们使用贝叶斯统计测试了LICA受试者权重与CAPE总分及分量表得分之间的关联。
PLE与精神病理学和社会心理因素的各个领域广泛相关。有中等证据表明PLE与一个LICA成分之间存在关联，该成分反映了主要通路中广泛而复杂的扩散模式，包括额枕下束、丘脑前辐射和小钳。被害妄想分量表显示出最强的效应证据。
年轻女性中的PLE与一种独特的多模态白质模式相关，该模式反映了年轻女性关键连合、联合和丘脑皮质通路中的微观结构特征。这些发现支持LICA是一种有价值的工具，可用于融合和分解先进的dMRI指标，以描绘对PLE和精神困扰敏感的白质模式。
