A novel method of measuring cortical thickness in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: a preliminary analysis of...

Our understanding of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) has been limited despite extensive neuroimaging research in the past decade. Recently, multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provided informative insights into complex neuropsychiatric illnesses. However, it is often accompanied by longer scan times and irreproducibility with the additional preprocessing methods. In this study, we investigated the ability of the multi-echo fast spoiled gradient (ME-FSPGR) sequence to generate T1-weighted images that could be reliably used to study cortical thickness in SSD. Eleven SSD patients and ten healthy controls were recruited and underwent ME-FSPGR and BRAVO-T1 sans using a 3T MRI. Cortical thickness was analyzed using FreeSurfer and the Desikan-Killiany atlas. The results indicated a moderate correlation between the ME-T1 and BRAVO-T1 cortical thickness values (Pearson's FDR-adjusted p-value<0.05), as well as no overall heterogeneity between the mean differences (SSD vs. controls) by the two protocols. However, the ME-T1 analysis required extensive quality control and processing. In conclusion, our work demonstrates a limited yet acceptable reliability of ME-FSPGR in producing structural images that can be used to study cortical abnormalities in SSD. Considering the multi-modal abilities of ME-FSPGR, optimizing this acquisition method for better image quality would pave the way for more robust multimodal neuroimaging to provide more insights into the pathophysiology of complex psychiatric illnesses.