Cortical morphology in patients with the deficit and non-deficit syndrome of schizophrenia: a worldwide meta- and mega-analyses

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Nerisa Banaj - , IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia - Roma (Author)
  • Daniela Vecchio - , IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia - Roma (Author)
  • Fabrizio Piras - , IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia - Roma (Author)
  • Pietro De Rossi - , IRCCS Ospedale pediatrico Bambino Gesù - Roma (Author)
  • Juan Bustillo - , University of New Mexico (Author)
  • Simone Ciufolini - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Paola Dazzan - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Marta Di Forti - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Erin W. Dickie - , University of Toronto (Author)
  • Judith M. Ford - , Department of Veterans Affairs, University of California at San Francisco (Author)
  • Paola Fuentes-Claramonte - , Sisters Hospitallers Research Foundation, CIBER - Center for Biomedical Research Network (Author)
  • Oliver Gruber - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Amalia Guerrero-Pedraza - , Hospital Benito Menni (Author)
  • Holly K. Hamilton - , University of California at San Francisco (Author)
  • Fleur M. Howells - , University of Cape Town (Author)
  • Bernd Kraemer - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Stephen M. Lawrie - , University of Edinburgh (Author)
  • Daniel H. Mathalon - , University of California at San Francisco (Author)
  • Robin Murray - , King's College London (KCL) (Author)
  • Edith Pomarol-Clotet - , Sisters Hospitallers Research Foundation, CIBER - Center for Biomedical Research Network (Author)
  • Steven G. Potkin - , University of California at Irvine (Author)
  • Adrian Preda - , University of California at Irvine (Author)
  • Joaquim Radua - , CIBER - Center for Biomedical Research Network, August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute, University of Barcelona (Author)
  • Anja Richter - , Heidelberg University  (Author)
  • Raymond Salvador - , Sisters Hospitallers Research Foundation (Author)
  • Akira Sawa - , Johns Hopkins University (Author)
  • Freda Scheffler - , University of Cape Town (Author)
  • Kang Sim - , National Healthcare Group, Singapore, National University of Singapore (Author)
  • Filip Spaniel - , National Institute of Mental Health (Author)
  • Dan J. Stein - , University of Cape Town (Author)
  • Henk S. Temmingh - , University of Cape Town, Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital (Author)
  • Sophia I. Thomopoulos - , University of Southern California (Author)
  • David Tomecek - , National Institute of Mental Health (Author)
  • Anne Uhlmann - , Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Author)
  • Aristotle Voineskos - , University of Toronto (Author)
  • Kun Yang - , Johns Hopkins University (Author)
  • Neda Jahanshad - , University of Southern California (Author)
  • Paul M. Thompson - , University of Southern California (Author)
  • Theo G.M. Van Erp - , University of California at Irvine (Author)
  • Jessica A. Turner - , Ohio State University (Author)
  • Gianfranco Spalletta - , IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia - Roma, Baylor College of Medicine (Author)
  • Federica Piras - , IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia - Roma (Author)

Abstract

Converging evidence suggests that schizophrenia (SZ) with primary, enduring negative symptoms (i.e., Deficit SZ (DSZ)) represents a distinct entity within the SZ spectrum while the neurobiological underpinnings remain undetermined. In the largest dataset of DSZ and Non-Deficit (NDSZ), we conducted a meta-analysis of data from 1560 individuals (168 DSZ, 373 NDSZ, 1019 Healthy Controls (HC)) and a mega-analysis of a subsampled data from 944 individuals (115 DSZ, 254 NDSZ, 575 HC) collected across 9 worldwide research centers of the ENIGMA SZ Working Group (8 in the mega-analysis), to clarify whether they differ in terms of cortical morphology. In the meta-analysis, sites computed effect sizes for differences in cortical thickness and surface area between SZ and control groups using a harmonized pipeline. In the mega-analysis, cortical values of individuals with schizophrenia and control participants were analyzed across sites using mixed-model ANCOVAs. The meta-analysis of cortical thickness showed a converging pattern of widespread thinner cortex in fronto-parietal regions of the left hemisphere in both DSZ and NDSZ, when compared to HC. However, DSZ have more pronounced thickness abnormalities than NDSZ, mostly involving the right fronto-parietal cortices. As for surface area, NDSZ showed differences in fronto-parietal-temporo-occipital cortices as compared to HC, and in temporo-occipital cortices as compared to DSZ. Although DSZ and NDSZ show widespread overlapping regions of thinner cortex as compared to HC, cortical thinning seems to better typify DSZ, being more extensive and bilateral, while surface area alterations are more evident in NDSZ. Our findings demonstrate for the first time that DSZ and NDSZ are characterized by different neuroimaging phenotypes, supporting a nosological distinction between DSZ and NDSZ and point toward the separate disease hypothesis.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4363–4373
Number of pages11
JournalMolecular psychiatry
Volume28
Issue number10
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 37644174
Mendeley 2a6794c3-0270-3c22-8097-29a99be78991
ORCID /0000-0002-1753-7811/work/150329901