Cortical Thinning in Network-Associated Regions in Cognitively Normal and Below-Normal Range Schizophrenia

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Schizophrenia is a complex psychiatric disorder.
• Cognitive impairment is common in schizophrenia.
• Cortical thickness alterations are observed in schizophrenia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in brain cortical thickness between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls.
• To examine if cognitive performance influences these cortical thickness differences.
• To explore regional cortical thickness variations within specific brain networks.

Main Methods:

• Structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) was used to measure cortical thickness.
• Cortical thickness data were analyzed across the whole brain and in default mode, salience, and central executive networks.
• Cognitive performance was assessed using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB).

Main Results:

• Healthy controls exhibited greater whole-brain cortical thickness than schizophrenia patients, irrespective of cognitive status.
• Reduced cortical thickness in patients was observed in default mode and salience networks, but not the central executive network.
• No significant differences in cortical thickness were found between cognitively normal and impaired subgroups within either controls or patients.

Conclusions:

• Cortical thinning in default mode and salience networks may be a neural correlate of schizophrenia's core psychopathology.
• These findings suggest that cortical thickness alterations in these networks are independent of cognitive performance levels in schizophrenia.
• Structural covariance within networks remained consistent across all participant groups.