Background: In low- and middle-income countries people with schizophrenia are reported to experience better outcomes than those in high-income countries.
Aims: To examine structural brain differences in people with first-episode psychosis and controls in Brazil.
Method: Magnetic resonance imaging using voxel-based morphometry was performed on 122 people with first-episode psychosis and 94 controls.
Results: There were significant decreases in grey matter in the left superior temporal and inferior prefrontal cortices, insula bilaterally and the right hippocampal region in first-episode psychosis (P<0.05, corrected for multiple comparisons). The subgroup of people with schizophrenia (n=62) exhibited a similar pattern of decrease in grey matter relative to controls.
Conclusions: Structural abnormalities reported in psychosis in high-income countries are also present in first-episode psychosis in Brazil.