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Unaffected family members and schizophrenia patients share brain structure patterns: a high-dimensional pattern
Yong Fan1, Raquel E Gur, Ruben C Gur
1Section of Biomedical Image Analysis, Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Biological Psychiatry
|June 9, 2007
Summary
High-dimensional pattern classification reveals shared brain structure patterns between schizophrenia patients and their unaffected family members. These subtle endophenotypes suggest a genetic influence on brain morphology.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Genetics
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Previous studies suggest genetic modulation of brain structure in relatives of schizophrenia patients.
- High-dimensional pattern classification (HD-PC) can detect subtle structural differences in schizophrenia.
- This study explores HD-PC for endophenotypic patterns in family members.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if subtle, complex brain structural endophenotypes are present in unaffected family members (FM) of schizophrenia patients.
- To apply high-dimensional pattern classification (HD-PC) methods to analyze brain structure in FM.
Main Methods:
- A HD-PC classifier was trained on 69 schizophrenia patients and 79 controls to identify patterns of reduced brain volumes.
- The classifier was then applied to analyze the brain structure of 30 unaffected family members (FM).
Main Results:
- The classifier found significant overlap in structural profiles between FM and schizophrenia patients.
- An orbitofrontal region with increased white matter was a key feature in classification.
- Findings suggest both gray matter reductions and white matter alterations may be present in patients and FM.
Conclusions:
- HD-PC successfully identified complex, subtle structural endophenotypes in unaffected family members.
- These shared endophenotypes provide evidence for a genetic contribution to brain structure in schizophrenia.
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