RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Neuroimaging alterations and relapse in early-stage psychosis
JF Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
JO JPN
FD Canadian Medical Association
SP E135
OP E142
DO 10.1503/jpn.230115
VO 49
IS 2
A1 Mihaljevic, Marina
A1 Nagpal, Anisha
A1 Etyemez, Semra
A1 Narita, Zui
A1 Ross, Anna
A1 Schaub, Rebecca
A1 Cascella, Nicola G.
A1 Coughlin, Jennifer M.
A1 Nestadt, Gerald
A1 Nucifora, Frederik C.
A1 Sedlak, Thomas W.
A1 Calhoun, Vince D.
A1 Faria, Andreia V.
A1 Yang, Kun
A1 Sawa, Akira
YR 2024
UL http://jpn.ca/content/49/2/E135.abstract
AB Background: Recent reports have indicated that symptom exacerbation after a period of improvement, referred to as relapse, in early-stage psychosis could result in brain changes and poor disease outcomes. We hypothesized that substantial neuroimaging alterations may exist among patients who experience relapse in early-stage psychosis.Methods: We studied patients with psychosis within 2 years after the first psychotic event and healthy controls. We divided patients into 2 groups, namely those who did not experience relapse between disease onset and the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan (no-relapse group) and those who did experience relapse between these 2 timings (relapse group). We analyzed 3003 functional connectivity estimates between 78 regions of interest (ROIs) derived from resting-state functional MRI data by adjusting for demographic and clinical confounding factors.Results: We studied 85 patients, incuding 54 in the relapse group and 31 in the no-relapse group, along with 94 healthy controls. We observed significant differences in 47 functional connectivity estimates between the relapse and control groups after multiple comparison corrections, whereas no differences were found between the no-relapse and control groups. Most of these pathological signatures (64%) involved the thalamus. The Jonckheere–Terpstra test indicated that all 47 functional connectivity changes had a significant cross-group progression from controls to patients in the no-relapse group to patients in the relapse group.Limitations: Longitudinal studies are needed to further validate the involvement and pathological importance of the thalamus in relapse.Conclusion: We observed pathological differences in neuronal connectivity associated with relapse in early-stage psychosis, which are more specifically associated with the thalamus. Our study implies the importance of considering neurobiological mechanisms associated with relapse in the trajectory of psychotic disorders.