Does neuroanatomy account for superior temporal dysfunction in early psychosis? A multimodal MRI investigation

Neuroimaging studies of ultra-high risk (UHR) and first-episode psychosis (FEP) have revealed widespread alterations in brain structure and function. Recent evidence suggests there is an intrinsic relationship between these 2 types of alterations; however, there is very little research linking these 2 modalities in the early stages of psychosis.

To test the hypothesis that functional alteration in UHR and FEP articipants would be associated with corresponding structural alteration, we examined brain function and structure in these participants as well as in a group of healthy controls using multimodal MRI. The data were analyzed using statistical parametric mapping.

We included 24 participants in the FEP group, 18 in the UHR group and 21 in the control group. Patients in the FEP group showed a reduction in functional activation in the left superior temporal gyrus relative to controls, and the UHR group showed intermediate values. The same region showed a corresponding reduction in grey matter volume in the FEP group relative to controls. However, while the difference in grey matter volume remained significant after including functional activation as a covariate of no interest, the reduction in functional activation was no longer evident after including grey matter volume as a covariate of no interest.

Our sample size was relatively small. All participants in the FEP group and 2 in the UHR group had received antipsychotic medication, which may have impacted neurofunction and/or neuroanatomy.

Our results suggest that superior temporal dysfunction in early psychosis is accounted for by a corresponding alteration in grey matter volume. This finding has important implications for the interpretation of functional alteration in early psychosis.