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FC07-03 - Neurological soft signs and morphological changes of basal ganglia and thalamus in patients with first-episode psychosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

D. Hirjak
Affiliation:
Structural Neuroimaging Group, Department of General Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany
B. Stieltjes
Affiliation:
Division of Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
K.H. Fritzsche
Affiliation:
Division of Medical and Biological Informatics, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
T. Wüstenberg
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany
U. Seidl
Affiliation:
Center for Mental Health, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
M. Essig
Affiliation:
Division of Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
J. Schröder
Affiliation:
Section of Geriatric Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
P.A. Thomann
Affiliation:
Structural Neuroimaging Group, Department of General Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Abstract

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Objectives

Minor motor and sensory deficits or neurological soft signs (NSS) are frequently found in individuals suffering from schizophrenia at any stage of their illness. The basal ganglia and the thalamus are accepted as being important for both motor control and integration of sensory input. However, whether NSS are related to structural alterations of these brain regions remains controversial.

Method

20 patients with a first-episode psychosis were investigated using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 Tesla. NSS were examined on the Heidelberg Scale after remission of acute symptoms and correlated with volume and shape of striatum, pallidum and thalamus by using sophisticated MRI analyses, namely VBM-DARTEL (volume) and FSL-FIRST (shape).

Results NSS scores in patients with schizophrenia were significantly associated with volumetric changes and surface alterations in all investigated areas. Associations remained significant when controlling for age, gender, education, medication and intracranial volume.

Conclusion

Our findings lend further support for an involvement of the basal ganglia and the thalamus in NSS.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2011
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