A transdiagnostic neuroanatomical signature of psychiatric illness

Neuropsychopharmacology. 2019 Apr;44(5):869-875. doi: 10.1038/s41386-018-0175-9. Epub 2018 Aug 8.

Abstract

Despite an increasing focus on transdiagnostic approaches to mental health, it remains unclear whether different diagnostic categories share a common neuronatomical basis. The current investigation sought to investigate whether a transdiagnostic set of structural alterations characterized schizophrenia, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and determine whether any such alterations reflected markers of psychiatric illness or pre-existing familial vulnerability. A total of 404 patients with a psychiatric diagnosis were recruited (psychosis, n = 129; unipolar depression, n = 92; post-traumatic stress disorder, n = 91; obsessive-compulsive disorder, n = 92) alongside n = 201 healthy controls and n = 20 unaffected first-degree relatives. We collected structural magnetic resonance imaging scans from each participant, and tested for transdiagnostic alterations using Voxel-based morphometry. Inferences were made at p < 0.05 after family-wise error correction for multiple comparisons. The four psychiatric groups relative to healthy controls were all characterized by significantly greater gray matter volume in the putamen (right: z-score: 5.97, p-value < 0.001; left: z-score: 4.97, p-value = 0.001); the volume of this region was positively correlated with severity of symptoms across groups (r = 0.313; p < 0.001). Putamen enlargement was also evident in unaffected relatives compared to healthy controls (right: z-score: 8.13, p-value < 0.001; left: z-score: 9.38, p-value < 0.001). Taken collectively, these findings indicate that increased putamen volume may reflect a transdiagnostic marker of familial vulnerability to psychopathology. This is consistent with emerging conceptualizations of psychiatric illness, in which each disorder is understood as a combination of diagnosis-specific features and a transdiagnostic factor reflecting general psychopathology.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / diagnostic imaging
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / pathology*
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / physiopathology
  • Disease Susceptibility
  • Family
  • Female
  • Gray Matter / diagnostic imaging
  • Gray Matter / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / diagnostic imaging
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / pathology*
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / physiopathology
  • Psychotic Disorders / diagnostic imaging
  • Psychotic Disorders / pathology*
  • Psychotic Disorders / physiopathology
  • Putamen / diagnostic imaging
  • Putamen / pathology*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / diagnostic imaging
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / pathology*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / physiopathology