On the Correlations of Gray Matter with Schizotypy in Mentally Healthy Subjects.

We analyzed the relationships between morphometric characteristics of brain gray matter and schizotypy. Mentally healthy subjects (n=164, age 18-35 years) completed Russian version of SPQ-74 test and underwent high-field 3T MRI. Cortical thickness in the right frontal pole (determined with FreeSurfer 6.0.0) positively correlated with negative schizotypy factor. The revealed features can reflect the protective mechanisms (resilience) against the development of mental disorders and also can be a result of individual ontogenesis trajectories manifested in deceleration of the decrease of the cortex thickness during first 3 decades of life.

MRI-Based Markers of Changes in the Supragranular Cortical Layer in Individuals at Clinically High Risk of Endogenous Psychosis.

We analyzed morphometric MRI parameters indirectly attesting to structural changes in the supragranular layer in 33 non-converted individuals at clinical high risk for endogenous psychosis (follow-up period of 6.7±0.6 years) and in 34 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. In the group of clinical high-risk individuals, changes indicative of potential predominance of supragranular thinning in comparison with a decrease of infragranular cortical layer thickness were revealed. The results are discussed in the context of the concepts of resilience and risk markers of developing endogenous psychosis.

Multimodal MRI of Conduction Tracts and Anatomy of the Cerebral Gray Matter in Familial Risk of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia.

The present study analyzed diffusion characteristics of white matter tracts and grey matter anatomy in 48 mentally healthy participants, including first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia (N=13) and affective spectrum disorders (N=13). The subgroup with familial risk of schizophrenia displayed abnormalities in the structural connectivity and increased cortical thickness in the superior frontal gyrus. No differences in the analyzed characteristics were revealed in the subgroup with familial risk for affective disorders. The results are discussed within the framework of the concepts of endophenotypes and processes reflecting compensatory and protective mechanisms.

MRI Study for the Features of Brain Conduction Pathways in Patients with an Ultra-High Risk of Endogenous Psychoses.

Diffusion parameters of brain tracts (n=18) were studied in 27 men with ultra-high risk of endogenous attack-like psychoses and 27 mentally healthy men of the same age group (fractional anisotropy; and average, radial, and axial diffusion). Correlation analysis was performed between these parameters and severity of mental disorders (SOPS scale). The indexes of radial diffusion and axial diffusion were shown to change in the left anterior thalamic radiation and right posterior cingulum bundle, respectively. Our results are consistent with published data that disturbances in the frontal and temporal lobes play an important role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The degree of mental disorders correlated with diffusion parameters in the left and right anterior cingulum bundle.

[Relationship of Executive Functions and Processing Speed with Cortical Gray Matter Morphometry in Healthy Adults and at The Early Stages of Schizophrenia].

13 male patients with schizophrenia and 18 age-matched healthy men underwent structural magnetic reso- nance imaging and completed the Stroop task which included the switching condition. As compared to con- trols, the patients showed slowing of color naming in the neutral condition and a reduction ofgray matter vol- ume and thickness in the frontal and temporal areas. In healthy subjects, the time of color naming was neg- atively correlated with gray matter volume in the left cuneus. In the schizophrenia group, there was a positive correlation between the time of color naming and cortical thickness in the middle and inferior frontal gyri of the right hemisphere. These results indicate a change in structural-functional relationships at the early stages of schizophrenia.

[Structural features of the brain in individuals with youth depression at a clinical risk for psychosis]. / Strukturnye osobennosti golovnogo mozga pri yunosheskikh depressiyakh s klinicheskim riskom manifestatsii psikhoza.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the structural features of the brain (cortical and subcortical) in depressive patients at clinical risk for psychosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Nineteen right-handed male patients with youth depression, who were assessed for high risk of psychotic manifestation, and 20 healthy controls underwent MRI and clinical examination. T1-weighted images were processed in FreeSurfer 7.1.1. For each subject average values for the cortex thickness and area, volumes of subcortical structures, and separately volumes of the amygdala nuclei were obtained. Intergroup comparisons and correlations with clinical scales (SOPS, HDRS) were calculated. RESULTS: Patients showed decreased gray matter thickness in the left (p=0.002) and right (p=0.003) postcentral gyri and increased thickness in the right posterior cingulate cortex (p=0.003) and rostral anterior cingulate cortex (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: These findings may reflect cortical changes at early stages of the psychotic process, including the gray matter loss in some areas and the opposite phenomena in others (it cannot be ruled out that the latter may be the result of altered ontogenesis and/or certain compensatory changes).

[Neuroanatomical brain profile of juvenile shiftlike schizophrenia: morphometry of grey matter in the prefrontal cortex and subcortical structures]. / Neiroanatomicheskie osobennosti golovnogo mozga pri iunosheskoi pristupoobraznoi shizofrenii: morfometriia serogo veshchestva prefrontal'noi kory i podkorkovykh struktur.

AIM: To determine neuroanatomical peculiarities of grey matter in some regions of the prefrontal cortex and several subcortical structures in patients with juvenile shift like schizophrenia (F20 ICD-10). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty-three young male patients and 54 mentally healthy men without family history of mental diseases underwent structural MRI with T1 high resolution images. RESULTS: As compared to mentally healthy subjects, there was a decrease of grey matter thickness in all tested regions of the prefrontal cortex in patients. No between-group differences in subcortical structures volumes were found. No correlations between structural changes and psychopathological symptoms were observed. CONCLUSION: Structural abnormalities of the frontal lobes in juvenile shift like schizophrenia are not associated with severity of psychopathological symptoms.

[Cerebral structural characteristics in children with unilateral amblyopia: a MRI study]. / Strukturnye osobennosti golovnogo mozga rebenka pri odnostoronnei ambliopii: MRT-issledovanie.

AIM: To study the mechanism of the development of amblyopia using the analysis of brain grey matter parameters. The areas primarily associated with visual cortex in children with amblyopia were analyzed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study group comprised 8 right-handed children with left-sided amblyopia. MRI images were obtained by 1.5T Toshiba scanner with 3D MP-RAGE. T1-images were processed with FreeSurfer (5.3.0 version, http://surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/). RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: No significant interhemisphere differences by cortical thickness were identified in all tested regions of interest. In correlation analysis, only the positive correlation between visual acuity in the left eye and cortical thickness in the left pericalcarine as well as the positive correlation between visual acuity in the left eye and cortical thickness in the left V1 area obtained using another anatomical atlas survived multiple comparison correction. The findings support the hypothesis that pathological ontogenetic processes in children with amblyopia lead to the structural abnormalities of the primary visual cortex.