DOI: 10.1097/01.yic.0000405871.33849.f9

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Issn Print: 0268-1315

Publication Date: 2011/09/01


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Structural MRI in the 1986 Northern Finland Birth Cohort: findings among different psychosis risk profiles in a cross sectional study

Andres Roman-Urrestarazu; Graham K. Murray; Anna Barnes; Jouko Miettunen; Erika Jääskeläinen; Nikkinen; Jukka Remes; Tuomo Starck; Irma Moilanen; Pirjo Mäki; John Suckling; Vesa Kiviniemi; Peter B. Jones; Juha Veijola

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Excerpt

Objective: The aim of this study is to asses brain structure in psychosis high-risk groups, in a population based, cross sectional comparison between groups at Clinical Risk, Family Risk or both Family Risk plus Clinical Risk. We wished to test the hypothesis that risk for psychosis would be associated with structural brain abnormalities, with increased deficits in those at both Family plus Clinical Risk for psychosis.
Methods data collection: To define the population at risk of psychosis we applied a stepped approach. First we used a population- based methodology on subjects of the 1986-Northern Finland Birth Cohort (n=9479). We screened people for non-specific psychotic like symptoms using questionnaires (PROD-Screen). We identified cohort members at Family Risk for psychosis by including those with a parent with a psychosis diagnosis from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register. We invited all those with Family Risk or deemed at risk from the questionnaires, along with a control group, and performed a clinical interview using the SIPS/SOPS frame- work. After this procedure, 172 subjects were finally included in the study. Psychosis Risk Groups Composition: Subjects were classified in three different risk groups for psychosis: Family Risk without Clinical Risk according to the SIPS/SOPS (FR, n=60), Clinical Risk without Family Risk (CR, n=26), and a group of individuals at both Family Risk and Clinical Risk (FRCR, n=13). A control group (n=73) was randomly selected from the Cohort. Image Acquisition: T1-weighted high-resolution three dimensional spoiled gradient echo brain images were acquired at 1.5 Tesla. Statistical Model: Structural data was analyzed and processed with FSL in a voxel- based morphometry style analysis. Modulated grey matter images were analyzed using CamBA permutation statistics with a cluster threshold of P.
Results: In the comparison between the Family plus Clinical Risk group (FRCR) versus controls, we found lower grey matter volume in a cluster (size 1689 voxels, peak voxel at −4.00, −72.00,−18.00 mm) covering both cerebellar hemispheres and the vermis P.
Conclusion: The Family plus Clinical Risk group had lower cerebellar grey matter volume compared to controls. This deficit was correlated with performance on the grooved pegboard test suggesting a detrimental effect of this structural difference on motor function. The Family Risk group had a cerebellar grey matter volume intermediate between the Family plus Clinical Risk group and controls. These findings are consistent with an evolving pattern of cerebellar deficits in psychosis risk with the most pronounced deficits in those at highest risk of psychosis.

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