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Published on: January 2, 2012
Morphometry and gyrification in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia: A comparative MRI study
Nuno Madeira1, João Valente Duarte1, Ricardo Martins1
1Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), University of Coimbra, Portugal; Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), University of Coimbra, Portugal; Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences (CNC.IBILI), Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Portugal.
Gyrification patterns may help differentiate schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, offering new biomarkers for early diagnosis. This study compared brain morphometrics in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and healthy controls.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are complex psychiatric disorders with significant heritability.
- Distinguishing between these conditions, especially in early stages, is diagnostically challenging.
- Existing biomarkers are often affected by post-onset changes, limiting their utility for early pathology detection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare classical and novel morphometric features between schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and healthy controls.
- To investigate gyrification as a potential early developmental biomarker differentiating these disorders.
- To explore neuroimaging-based strategies for discriminating schizophrenia from bipolar disorder in early phases.
Main Methods:
- Utilized surface-based morphometry and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) with CAT12/SPM12 software.
- Analyzed four morphometric measures: gyrification, cortical thickness, grey matter volume, and white matter volume.
- Included 20 patients with schizophrenia, 20 with bipolar disorder, and 20 healthy controls, matched for age and gender.
Main Results:
- Voxel-based morphometry revealed reduced grey matter volume in the right globus pallidus in schizophrenia patients compared to controls.
- Gyrification analysis showed distinct patterns: increased in bipolar disorder patients and reduced in schizophrenia patients in the left supramarginal gyrus.
- A reduction in gyrification was also observed in the right inferior frontal gyrus in schizophrenia patients compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- Gyrification patterns differ between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, suggesting potential as a neuroimaging biomarker.
- Combined analysis of morphometric features like gyrification offers a promising approach to identify distinct phenotypes in psychiatric disorders.
- These findings could aid in developing biomarkers to differentiate schizophrenia from bipolar disorder in early-stage psychosis.
