Erata Mehmet Can, Üstündağ Damla Kasap, Oral Elif Yerlikaya, Uslu Özgül, Erdoğan Yiğit, Tonyalı Ayşegül, Karaçetin Gül, Gönül Ali Saffet
SoCAT Araştırma Laboratuvarı, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Ege University, İzmir, Türkiye.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Istanbul Erenkoy Mental Health and Neurological Diseases Education and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Türkiye.
Noro Psikiyatr Ars. 2025 Mar 22;62(3):209-215. doi: 10.29399/npa.28885. eCollection 2025.
Schizophrenia is both a neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorder that manifests a complex spectrum of symptoms, significantly impacting mental health. In early-onset psychosis, similar to adult studies, neuroimaging focuses on ventral prefrontal cortical areas and posterior temporoparietal regions, crucial for understanding the neurodevelopmental mechanisms of these conditions in such drug-naive patients. This enables magnetic resonance imaging to be acquired before significant neurodegenerative changes occur, in contrast to chronic schizophrenia cases. Therefore, our study helps advance understanding of disease mechanisms in this patient population.
We recruited forty-one subjects (17 females, 24 males; mean age=16 years; age range: 12-17 years) who were diagnosed with first-episode psychosis (FEP). We examined the relationship between gene and environmental risk scores (GERS) and whole-brain gray matter (GM) volumes through voxel-based morphometry (VBM).
We found a positive correlation between GM volumes of the left medial frontal gyrus, right anterior prefrontal cortex, left superior frontal gyrus, left operculum of the inferior frontal gyrus, left superior parietal lobe, and left supramarginal gyrus with the GERS. We found a negative correlation between GM volumes of the left superior frontal gyrus, left cerebellum, and the GERS.
Our findings contribute to the understanding of structural abnormalities associated with schizophrenia, aligning with existing literature highlighting GM changes in frontal, parietal, and temporal cortices, as well as limbic structures. Our study underscores the importance of integrating structural and functional neuroimaging approaches to elucidate the pathophysiology of early-onset schizophrenia, emphasizing regions like the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and posterior parietal areas.
精神分裂症是一种神经发育和神经退行性疾病，表现出一系列复杂的症状，对心理健康有重大影响。在早发性精神病中，与成人研究类似，神经影像学聚焦于腹侧前额叶皮质区域和后颞顶叶区域，这对于理解此类未使用过药物的患者这些病症的神经发育机制至关重要。与慢性精神分裂症病例不同，这使得能够在显著的神经退行性变化发生之前获取磁共振成像。因此，我们的研究有助于推进对此类患者群体疾病机制的理解。
我们招募了41名被诊断为首发精神病（FEP）的受试者（17名女性，24名男性；平均年龄 = 16岁；年龄范围：12 - 17岁）。我们通过基于体素的形态学测量（VBM）研究基因和环境风险评分（GERS）与全脑灰质（GM）体积之间的关系。
我们发现左侧额内侧回、右侧前额叶皮质、左侧额上回、左侧额下回岛盖部、左侧顶上叶和左侧缘上回的GM体积与GERS呈正相关。我们发现左侧额上回、左侧小脑的GM体积与GERS呈负相关。
我们的数据有助于理解与精神分裂症相关的结构异常，与现有文献中强调额叶、顶叶和颞叶皮质以及边缘结构中GM变化的研究一致。我们的研究强调了整合结构和功能神经影像学方法以阐明早发性精神分裂症病理生理学的重要性，突出了背外侧前额叶皮质、腹外侧前额叶皮质和后顶叶区域等部位。
