Investigation of structural brain correlates of neurological soft signs in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis

Ya Wang; Esmee E Braam; Cassandra MJ Wannan; Tamsyn E Van Rheenen; Raymond CK Chan; Barnaby Nelson; Patrick D McGorry; Alison R Yung; Ashleigh Lin; Warrick J Brewer; John Koutsogiannis; Stephen J Wood; Dennis Velakoulis; Christos Pantelis; Vanessa L Cropley

Journal article

Investigation of structural brain correlates of neurological soft signs in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis

Ya Wang, Esmee E Braam, Cassandra MJ Wannan, Tamsyn E Van Rheenen, Raymond CK Chan, Barnaby Nelson, Patrick D McGorry, Alison R Yung, Ashleigh Lin, Warrick J Brewer, John Koutsogiannis, Stephen J Wood, Dennis Velakoulis, Christos Pantelis, Vanessa L Cropley

EUROPEAN ARCHIVES OF PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE | SPRINGER HEIDELBERG | Published : 2021

DOI: 10.1007/s00406-021-01300-9

Abstract

Increased severity of neurological soft signs (NSS) in schizophrenia have been associated with abnormal brain morphology in cerebello-thalamo-cortical structures, but it is unclear whether similar structures underlie NSS prior to the onset of psychosis. The present study investigated the relationship between severity of NSS and grey matter volume (GMV) in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR) stratified for later conversion to psychosis. Structural T1-weighted MRI scans were obtained from 56 antipsychotic-naïve UHR individuals and 35 healthy controls (HC). The UHR individuals had follow-up data (mean follow-up: 5.2 years) to ascertain clinical outcome. Using whole-brain voxel-ba..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Tamsyn van Rheenen Author Psychiatry

Christos Pantelis Author Psychiatry

Stephen Wood Author Centre for Youth Mental Health

Patrick McGorry Author Centre for Youth Mental Health

Barnaby Nelson Author Centre for Youth Mental Health

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australia

Awarded by NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowships

Awarded by Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD) Distinguished Investigator Award

Awarded by NHMRC Principal Research Fellowship

Awarded by NHMRC Early Career Fellowship

Awarded by NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship

Awarded by NHMRC Career Development Fellowship

Awarded by NHMRC Investigator Grant

Awarded by Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD) Young Investigator Award

Awarded by National Key Research and Development Programme

Funding Acknowledgements

This research was supported by project grants (IDs: 970598 and 981112) and Program Grant (ID: 350241) from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australia; the Ian Potter Foundation, Melbourne; Woods Family Trust, Melbourne; a Program Grant from the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Melbourne. C Pantelis was supported by NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowships (628386 and 1105825), and a Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD) Distinguished Investigator Award (US; Grant ID: 18722). PD McGorry was supported by a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship, and a Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD) Distinguished Investigator Award (US). AR Yung was supported by a NHMRC Principal Research Fellowship (1136829) and a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Senior Fellowship Award. Y Wang was supported by the China Scholarship Council. T Van Rheenen was supported by an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (1088785). B Nelson was supported by an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (1137687). A Lin is supported by an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (1148793). VL Cropley was supported by a NHMRC Investigator Grant (1177370), a Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD) Young Investigator Award (21660), and a University of Melbourne Dame Kate Campbell Fellowship. Raymond Chan was supported by the National Key Research and Development Programme (2016YFC0906402).