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Analyzing language ability in first-episode psychosis and their unaffected siblings: A diffusion tensor imaging
Tuğçe Çabuk1, Didenur Şahin Çevik2, Işık Batuhan Çakmak3
1Department of Psychology, National Magnetic Resonance Research Center (UMRAM) & Aysel Sabuncu Brain Research Center, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey; Department of Psychology, Başkent University, Ankara, Turkey.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
|September 25, 2024
Summary
White matter abnormalities in language tracts like the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and uncinate fasciculus (UF) may indicate schizophrenia vulnerability. These changes were observed in siblings of patients, suggesting early-onset risk factors.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Genetics
Background:
- Schizophrenia (SZ) is highly heritable, with language dysfunction being a key diagnostic feature.
- Previous research linked polygenic risk for SZ to disorganized speech but inconsistently explored white matter integrity in language tracts of high-risk individuals.
- Few studies have investigated white matter integrity in language-related tracts among individuals at familial high-risk for schizophrenia.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate white matter integrity in language-related tracts in first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients, their siblings (SIB), and healthy controls (CON).
- To assess the relationship between language abilities (Thought and Language Index, verbal fluency) and white matter tract integrity.
- To identify potential neurobiological markers of schizophrenia vulnerability.
Main Methods:
- Whole-brain Tract-Based Spatial Statistics and region-of-interest analyses were employed.
- Language ability was assessed using the Thought and Language Index (TLI) and verbal fluency tests.
- Participants included first-episode psychosis patients (N=20), their siblings (N=20), and healthy controls (N=20).
Main Results:
- Significant alterations in language-related tracts, including the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) and uncinate fasciculus (UF), were found among the three groups and between siblings and controls.
- A significant correlation was observed between the TLI Impoverished thought/language sub-scale and the ILF.
- No significant differences in white matter integrity were found between first-episode psychosis patients and healthy controls.
Conclusions:
- Abnormalities in the ILF and UF may serve as important pathophysiological vulnerability indicators for schizophrenia.
- Language alterations, particularly in specific white matter tracts, could represent an endophenotype of schizophrenia.
- Further research with larger sample sizes is needed to elucidate the role of language as a potential endophenotype in schizophrenia.
Keywords:
Diffusion tensor imagingFirst-episode psychosisFormal thought disorderLanguageSchizophreniaSibling
