Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T00:31:42.709Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Childhood adversity and cortical thickness and surface area in a population at familial high risk of schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2015

V. Barker ,
C. Bois ,
E. C. Johnstone ,
D. G. C. Owens ,
H. C. Whalley ,
A. M. McIntosh  and
S. M. Lawrie
V. Barker*
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Centre for Brain Sciences, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, UK Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, UK
C. Bois
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Centre for Brain Sciences, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, UK
E. C. Johnstone
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Centre for Brain Sciences, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, UK
D. G. C. Owens
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Centre for Brain Sciences, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, UK Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, UK
H. C. Whalley
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Centre for Brain Sciences, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, UK
A. M. McIntosh
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Centre for Brain Sciences, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, UK Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, UK
S. M. Lawrie
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Centre for Brain Sciences, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, UK Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr V. Barker, Division of Psychiatry, Centre for Brain Sciences, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh EH10 5HF, UK. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

There is now a well-established link between childhood adversity (CA) and schizophrenia. Similar structural abnormalities to those found in schizophrenia including alterations in grey-matter volume have also been shown in those who experience CA.

Method

We examined whether global estimates of cortical thickness or surface area were altered in those familial high-risk subjects who had been referred to a social worker or the Children's Panel compared to those who had not.

Results

We found that the cortical surface area of those who were referred to the Children's Panel was significantly smaller than those who had not been referred, but cortical thickness was not significantly altered. There was also an effect of social work referral on cortical surface area but not on thickness.

Conclusions

Cortical surface area increases post-natally more than cortical thickness. Our findings suggest that CA can influence structural changes in the brain and it is likely to have a greater impact on cortical surface area than on cortical thickness.

Keywords

Childhood adversityfamilial high riskschizophrenia
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , March 2016 , pp. 891 - 896
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersen, SL, Tomada, A, Vincow, ES, Valente, E, Polcari, A, Teicher, MH (2008). Preliminary evidence for sensitive periods in the effect of childhood sexual abuse on regional brain development. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 20, 292–301.Google Scholar
Barker, V, Lawrie, SM, Gumley, A, Schwannauer, M (2015). An integrated biopsychosocial model of childhood maltreatment and psychosis. British Journal of Psychiatry 206, 177–180.Google Scholar
Bois, C, Whalley, HC, McIntosh, AM, Lawrie, SM (2014). Structural magnetic resonance imaging markers of susceptibility and transition to schizophrenia: a review of familial and clinical high risk population studies. Journal of Psychopharmacology 29, 144–154.Google Scholar
Casanova, MF, Tillquist, CR (2008). Encephalization, emergent properties, and psychiatry: a minicolumnar perspective. Neuroscientist 14, 101–118.Google Scholar
Fischl, B, Dale, AM (2000). Measuring the thickness of the human cerebral cortex from magnetic resonance images. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 97, 11050–11055.Google Scholar
Fischl, B, Liu, A, Dale, AM (2001). Automated manifold surgery: Constructing geometrically accurate and topologically correct models of the human cerebral cortex. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging 20, 70–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilbert, R, Widom, CS, Browne, K, Fergusson, D, Webb, E, Janson, S (2009). Burden and consequences of child maltreatment in high-income countries. Lancet 373, 68–81.Google Scholar
Goghari, VM, Rehm, K, Carter, CS, MacDonald, AW (2007). Sulcal thickness as a vulnerability indicator for schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry 191, 229–233.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldman, AL, Pezawas, L, Mattay, VS, Fischl, B, Verchinski, BA, Chen, Q, Weinberger, DR, Meyer-Lindenberg, A (2009). Widespread reductions of cortical thickness in schizophrenia and spectrum disorders and evidence of heritability. Archives of General Psychiatry 66, 467–477.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Habets, P, Marcelis, M, Gronenschild, E, Drukker, M, van Os, J, Genetic, R, Outcome of P (2011). Reduced cortical thickness as an outcome of differential sensitivity to environmental risks in schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry 69, 487–494.Google Scholar
Hodges, A, Byrne, M, Grant, E, Johnstone, E (1999). People at risk of schizophrenia. Sample characteristics of the first 100 cases in the Edinburgh High-Risk Study. British Journal of Psychiatry 174, 547–553.Google Scholar
Johnstone, EC, Abukmeil, SS, Byrne, M, Clafferty, R, Grant, E, Hodges, A, Lawrie, SM, Owens, DG (2000). Edinburgh high risk study-findings after four years: demographic, attainment and psychopathological issues. Schizophrenia Research 46, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnstone, EC, Ebmeier, KP, Miller, P, Owens, DG, Lawrie, SM (2005). Predicting schizophrenia: findings from the Edinburgh High-Risk Study. British Journal of Psychiatry 186, 18–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawrie, SM, McIntosh, AM, Hall, J, Owens, DG, Johnstone, EC (2008). Brain structure and function changes during the development of schizophrenia: the evidence from studies of subjects at increased genetic risk. Schizophrenia Bulletin 34, 330–340.Google Scholar
Lyall, AE, Shi, F, Geng, X, Woolson, S, Li, G, Wang, L, Hamer, RM, Shen, D, Gilmore, JH (2014). Dynamic development of regional cortical thickness and surface area in early childhood. Cerebral Cortex 25, 2204–2212.Google Scholar
Matheson, SL, Shepherd, AM, Pinchbeck, RM, Laurens, KR, Carr, VJ (2013). Childhood adversity in schizophrenia: a systematic meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine 43, 225–238.Google Scholar
Mills, KL, Lalonde, F, Clasen, LS, Giedd, JN, Blakemore, SJ (2014). Developmental changes in the structure of the social brain in late childhood and adolescence. Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 9, 123–131.Google Scholar
Mountcastle, VB (1997). The columnar organization of the neocortex. Brain 120(Pt 4), 701–722.Google Scholar
Panizzon, MS, Fennema-Notestine, C, Eyler, LT, Jernigan, TL, Prom-Wormley, E, Neale, M, Jacobson, K, Lyons, MJ, Grant, MD, Franz, CE, Xian, H, Tsuang, M, Fischl, B, Seidman, L, Dale, A, Kremen, WS (2009). Distinct genetic influences on cortical surface area and cortical thickness. Cerebral Cortex 19, 2728–2735.Google Scholar
Rakic, P (1985). Limits of neurogenesis in primates. Science 227, 1054–1056.Google Scholar
Rakic, P (1988). Defects of neuronal migration and the pathogenesis of cortical malformations. Progress in Brain Research 73, 15–37.Google Scholar
Read, J, Perry, BD, Moskowitz, A, Connolly, J (2001). The contribution of early traumatic events to schizophrenia in some patients: a traumagenic neurodevelopmental model. Psychiatry 64, 319–345.Google Scholar
Reuter, M, Rosas, HD, Fischl, B (2010). Highly accurate inverse consistent registration: A robust approach. Neuroimage 53, 1181–1196.Google Scholar
Rosas, HD, Liu, AK, Hersch, S, Glessner, M, Ferrante, RJ, Salat, DH, Van der Kouwe, A, Jenkins, BG, Dale, AM, Fischl, B, (2002). Regional and progressive thinning of the cortical ribbon in Huntington’s disease. Neurology 58, 695–701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Segonne, F, Pacheco, J, Fischl, B (2007). Geometrically accurate topology-correction of cortical surfaces using nonseparating loops. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging 26, 518–529.Google Scholar
Sled, JG, Zijdenbos, AP, Evans, AC (1998). A nonparametric method for automatic correction of intensity nonuniformity in MRI data. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging 17, 87–97.Google Scholar
Sprooten, E, Papmeyer, M, Smyth, AM, Vincenz, D, Honold, S, Conlon, GA, Moorhead, TW, Job, D, Whalley, HC, Hall, J, McIntosh, AM, Owens, DC, Johnstone, EC, Lawrie, SM (2013). Cortical thickness in first-episode schizophrenia patients and individuals at high familial risk: a cross-sectional comparison. Schizophrenia Research 151, 259–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Varese, F, Smeets, F, Drukker, M, Lieverse, R, Lataster, T, Viechtbauer, W, Read, J, van Os, J, Bentall, RP (2012). Childhood adversities increase the risk of psychosis: a meta-analysis of patient-control, prospective- and cross-sectional cohort studies. Schizophrenia Bulletin 38, 661–671.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D (1958). The Measurement and Appraisal of Adult Intelligence, 4th edn. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
Wright, IC, Rabe-Hesketh, S, Woodruff, PW, David, AS, Murray, RM, Bullmore, ET (2000). Meta-analysis of regional brain volumes in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry 157, 16–25.Google Scholar