Volumetric differences in gray and white matter of cerebellar Crus I/II across the different clinical stages of Schizophrenia

Summary

Chie Morimoto, Osamu Abe, Kiyoto Kasai and Shinsuke Koike at the University of Tokyo, and their colleagues analyzed cerebellar Crus I/II volume in gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) separately at different critical stages of the schizophrenia spectrum. The study showed that the ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR) males demonstrated significantly larger WM volumes compared to the first-episode schizophrenia (FES) and chronic schizophrenia (ChSZ) male groups. Additionally, WM and/or GM volumes of the Crus I/II had associations with symptom severity in the ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR) and first-episode schizophrenia (FES) groups.

While structural changes of various cerebral regions at different stages of schizophrenia have been well-studied, how structural changes in the cerebellum occur according to the disease progression remain unclear. The study focused on Crus I/II which has anatomical and functional connectivity with the prefrontal cortex that has been linked to the symptomatology and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Using MRI structural imaging, it was analyzed how structural differences of the cerebellar Crus I/II subregion occurred across the different stages of psychosis—specifically in UHR, FES, and ChSZ stages, using MRI structural imaging.

From the results of the study, it is expected that alterations of WM volumes of Crus I/II may be useful as a biological marker of early detection and treatment for UHR individuals.

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