Positive symptoms associate with cortical thinning in the superior temporal gyrus via the ENIGMA Schizophrenia consortium

E. Walton, D. P. Hibar, T. G M van Erp, S. G. Potkin, R. Roiz-Santiañez, B. Crespo-Facorro, P. Suarez-Pinilla, N. E M Van Haren, S. M C de Zwarte, R. S. Kahn, W. Cahn, N. T. Doan, K. N. Jørgensen, T. P. Gurholt, I. Agartz, O. A. Andreassen, L. T. Westlye, I. Melle, A. O. Berg, L. Mørch-JohnsenA. Færden, L. Flyckt, H. Fatouros-Bergman, E. G. Jönsson, R. Hashimoto, H. Yamamori, M. Fukunaga, A. Preda, P. De Rossi, F. Piras, N. Banaj, V. Ciullo, G. Spalletta, R. E. Gur, R. C. Gur, D. H. Wolf, T. D. Satterthwaite, L. M. Beard, I. E. Sommer, S. Koops, O. Gruber, A. Richter, B. Krämer, S. Kelly, G. Donohoe, C. McDonald, D. M. Cannon, A. Corvin, M. Gill, A. Di Giorgio, A. Bertolino, S. Lawrie, T. Nickson, H. C. Whalley, E. Neilson, V. D. Calhoun, P. M. Thompson, J. A. Turner, S. Ehrlich*, L. Farde, G. Engberg, S. Erhardt, H. Fatouros-Bergman, S. Cervenka, L. Schwieler, F. Piehl, P. Ikonen, K. Collste, F. Orhan, A. Malmqvist, M. Hedberg

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Objective: Based on the role of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) in auditory processing, language comprehension and self-monitoring, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between STG cortical thickness and positive symptom severity in schizophrenia. Method: This prospective meta-analysis includes data from 1987 individuals with schizophrenia collected at seventeen centres around the world that contribute to the ENIGMA Schizophrenia Working Group. STG thickness measures were extracted from T1-weighted brain scans using FreeSurfer. The study performed a meta-analysis of effect sizes across sites generated by a model predicting left or right STG thickness with a positive symptom severity score (harmonized SAPS or PANSS-positive scores), while controlling for age, sex and site. Secondary models investigated relationships between antipsychotic medication, duration of illness, overall illness severity, handedness and STG thickness. Results: Positive symptom severity was negatively related to STG thickness in both hemispheres (left: βstd = −0.052; P = 0.021; right: βstd = −0.073; P = 0.001) when statistically controlling for age, sex and site. This effect remained stable in models including duration of illness, antipsychotic medication or handedness. Conclusion: Our findings further underline the important role of the STG in hallmark symptoms in schizophrenia. These findings can assist in advancing insight into symptom-relevant pathophysiological mechanisms in schizophrenia.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)439-447
Number of pages9
JournalActa Psychiatrica Scandinavica
Volume135
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2017

Keywords

  • cortical thickness
  • ENIGMA
  • FreeSurfer
  • MRI
  • positive and negative syndrome scale
  • positive symptoms
  • scale for the assessment of positive symptoms
  • schizophrenia
  • superior temporal gyrus

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