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Schizotypy and brain structure: a voxel-based morphometry study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 November 2009

G. Modinos ,
A. Mechelli ,
J. Ormel ,
N. A. Groenewold ,
A. Aleman  and
P. K. McGuire
G. Modinos*
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Groningen, and BCN Neuroimaging Center, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands Department of Psychological Medicine, Section of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
A. Mechelli
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Section of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
J. Ormel
Affiliation:
Interdisciplinary Center of Psychiatric Epidemiology, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
N. A. Groenewold
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Groningen, and BCN Neuroimaging Center, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
A. Aleman
Affiliation:
Department of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Groningen, and BCN Neuroimaging Center, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
P. K. McGuire
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Section of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: G. Modinos, M.Sc., BCN Neuroimaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, PO Box 9700AD, Groningen, The Netherlands. (Email: g.modinos@med.umcg.nl)
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Abstract

Background

Schizotypy is conceptualized as a subclinical manifestation of the same underlying biological factors that give rise to schizophrenia and other schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Individuals with psychometric schizotypy (PS) experience subthreshold psychotic signs and can be psychometrically identified among the general population. Previous research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has shown gray-matter volume (GMV) abnormalities in chronic schizophrenia, in subjects with an at-risk mental state (ARMS) and in individuals with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). However, to date, no studies have investigated the neuroanatomical correlates of PS.

Method

Six hundred first- and second-year university students completed the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE), a self-report instrument on psychosis proneness measuring attenuated positive psychotic experiences. A total of 38 subjects with high and low PS were identified and subsequently scanned with MRI. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was applied to examine GMV differences between subjects with high and low positive PS.

Results

Subjects with high positive PS showed larger global volumes compared to subjects with low PS, and larger regional volumes in the medial posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the precuneus. There were no regions where GMV was greater in low than in high positive PS subjects.

Conclusions

These regions, the PCC and precuneus, have also been sites of volumetric differences in MRI studies of ARMS subjects and schizophrenia, suggesting that psychotic or psychotic-like experiences may have common neuroanatomical correlates across schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Keywords

Gray matterMRIschizophreniaschizotypyvoxel-based morphometry
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 40 , Issue 9 , September 2010 , pp. 1423 - 1431
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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