Newborn infants can suffer permanent brain damage as a result of birth asphyxia (ASP), a severe obstetric complication (OC). However, effects of OCs on cognitive abilities and brain structure in schizophrenia (SZ) are unknown.

The main goals of this study were to investigate putative effects of a history of OCs on adult cognition and brain structure in SZ.

We utilized prospective data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway to identify incidences of severe OCs in adult healthy controls (HC; n = 622) and patients with SZ (n = 607). IQ was assessed, and a subset of participants (n= 414) underwent magnetic resonance imaging.

Severe OCs (27%) and ASP (14%) were equally common in SZ and HC. SZ patients with OCs had lower IQ than patients without OCs, a difference not found in HC (p = .023). Having experienced more than one co-occurring severe OC was associated with lower IQ in both groups, wherein 81% of co-occurring OCs involved ASP. ASP was related to smaller intracranial volume and brain volumes in both groups. Smaller caudate volumes were found in SZ patients with ASP compared to patients without ASP, a difference not found in HC (p = .009).

Our findings give support for an effect of birth ASP on brain development in both patients with SZ and HC. OC history specifically impacts IQ in SZ. Smaller caudate volumes might be particularly related to disease development. These results warrant replication in an independent sample.

No significant relationships.

The size of particular sub-regions within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) has been associated with fear extinction in humans. Exposure therapy is a form of extinction learning widely used in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Here we investigated the relationship between morphometric measurements of different sub-regions of the vmPFC and exposure therapy outcome in OCD.

A total of 74 OCD patients and 86 healthy controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Cortical thickness and volumetric measurements were obtained for the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), the medial orbital frontal cortex and the subcallosal cortex. After MRI acquisition, patients were enrolled in an exposure therapy protocol, and we assessed the relationship between MRI-derived measurements and treatment outcome. Baseline between-group differences for such measurements were also assessed.

Compared with healthy controls, OCD patients showed a thinner left rACC (p = 0.008). Also, left rACC thickness was inversely associated with exposure therapy outcome (r – 0.32, p = 0.008), and this region was significantly thinner in OCD patients who responded to exposure therapy than in those who did not (p = 0.006). Analyses based on regional volumetry did not yield any significant results.

OCD patients showed cortical thickness reductions in the left rACC, and these alterations were related to exposure therapy outcome. The precise characterization of neuroimaging predictors of treatment response derived from the study of the brain areas involved in fear extinction may optimize exposure therapy planning in OCD and other anxiety disorders.