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Updated: Sep 15, 2025

Design and Implementation of an fMRI Study Examining Thought Suppression in Young Women with, and At-risk, for Depression
Published on: May 19, 2015
Differential structural cortical correlates of positive, negative, and linguistic control formal thought disorder
Jürgen Hänggi1, Sebastian Walther2,3,4, Nicole Gangl2
1Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. juergen.haenggi@unibe.ch.
Abstract:
Formal thought disorder (FTD) is a core symptom of schizophrenia. The pathophysiology of FTD is still unclear. We focus on multiple cortical measures to capture the exact nature of brain alterations (e.g., plasticity, early brain development) in FTD dimensions. We included 70 schizophrenia patients. We assessed FTD, acquired structural neuroimaging scans, and analyzed cortical thickness, volume, surface area, and local gyrification (IGI). Results reveal negative FTD to be associated with different structural brain correlates compared to the positive and linguistic control FTD dimensions most prominent in markers of early brain development. Severity of positive and linguistic control FTD dimensions correlated positively with IGI of core language regions including temporal, Heschl's, and inferior frontal gyri. Severity of negative FTD dimension was inversely correlated with lGI of occipital and parietal regions. Findings propose distinguishable changes most prominent in markers of early brain development associated with FTD dimensions suggesting a distinct pathophysiology.
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