Distinct Volume Alterations of Thalamic Nuclei Across the Schizophrenia Spectrum

Melissa Thalhammer; Julia Schulz; Felicitas Scheulen; Mohamed El Mehdi Oubaggi; Matthias Kirschner; Stefan Kaiser; André Schmidt; Stefan Borgwardt; Mihai Avram; Felix Brandl; Christian Sorg

doi:10.1093/schbul/sbae037

Distinct Volume Alterations of Thalamic Nuclei Across the Schizophrenia Spectrum

Schizophr Bull. 2024 Apr 5:sbae037. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbae037. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Melissa Thalhammer^{1

2}, Julia Schulz^{1

2}, Felicitas Scheulen^{1

2}, Mohamed El Mehdi Oubaggi^{1

2}, Matthias Kirschner^{3

4}, Stefan Kaiser³, André Schmidt⁵, Stefan Borgwardt⁶, Mihai Avram⁶, Felix Brandl^{1

2

7}, Christian Sorg^{1

2

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
² TUM-NIC Neuroimaging Center, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
³ Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
⁶ Translational Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.

PMID: 38577901
DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbae037

Abstract

Background and hypothesis: Abnormal thalamic nuclei volumes and their link to cognitive impairments have been observed in schizophrenia. However, whether and how this finding extends to the schizophrenia spectrum is unknown. We hypothesized a distinct pattern of aberrant thalamic nuclei volume across the spectrum and examined its potential associations with cognitive symptoms.

Study design: We performed a FreeSurfer-based volumetry of T1-weighted brain MRIs from 137 healthy controls, 66 at-risk mental state (ARMS) subjects, 89 first-episode psychosis (FEP) individuals, and 126 patients with schizophrenia to estimate thalamic nuclei volumes of six nuclei groups (anterior, lateral, ventral, intralaminar, medial, and pulvinar). We used linear regression models, controlling for sex, age, and estimated total intracranial volume, both to compare thalamic nuclei volumes across groups and to investigate their associations with positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms.

Study results: We observed significant volume alterations in medial and lateral thalamic nuclei. Medial nuclei displayed consistently reduced volumes across the spectrum compared to controls, while lower lateral nuclei volumes were only observed in schizophrenia. Whereas positive and negative symptoms were not associated with reduced nuclei volumes across all groups, higher cognitive scores were linked to lower volumes of medial nuclei in ARMS. In FEP, cognition was not linked to nuclei volumes. In schizophrenia, lower cognitive performance was associated with lower medial volumes.

Conclusions: Results demonstrate distinct thalamic nuclei volume reductions across the schizophrenia spectrum, with lower medial nuclei volumes linked to cognitive deficits in ARMS and schizophrenia. Data suggest a distinctive trajectory of thalamic nuclei abnormalities along the course of schizophrenia.

Keywords: cognitive symptoms; magnetic resonance imaging; schizophrenia; thalamic nuclei.

Abstract

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