Electrical and Electronic Engineering - Research Publications

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Author: Skafidas, Efstratios × Author: Pantelis, Christos × Start date: 2020 × End date: 2022 ×

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    Cortico-cognition coupling in treatment resistant schizophrenia
    Syeda, WT ; Wannan, CMJ ; Merritt, AH ; Raghava, JM ; Jayaram, M ; Velakoulis, D ; Kristensen, TD ; Soldatos, RF ; Tonissen, S ; Thomas, N ; Ambrosen, KS ; Sorensen, ME ; Fagerlund, B ; Rostrup, E ; Glenthoj, BY ; Skafidas, E ; Bousman, CA ; Johnston, LA ; Everall, I ; Ebdrup, BH ; Pantelis, C (ELSEVIER SCI LTD, 2022)
    BACKGROUND: Brain structural alterations and cognitive dysfunction are independent predictors for poor clinical outcome in schizophrenia, and the associations between these domains remains unclear. We employed a novel, multiblock partial least squares correlation (MB-PLS-C) technique and investigated multivariate cortico-cognitive patterns in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) and matched healthy controls (HC). METHOD: Forty-one TRS patients (age 38.5 ± 9.1, 30 males (M)), and 45 HC (age 40.2 ± 10.6, 29 M) underwent 3T structural MRI. Volumes of 68 brain regions and seven variables from CANTAB covering memory and executive domains were included. Univariate group differences were assessed, followed by the MB-PLS-C analyses to identify group-specific multivariate patterns of cortico-cognitive coupling. Supplementary three-group analyses, which included 23 non-affected first-degree relatives (NAR), were also conducted. RESULTS: Univariate tests demonstrated that TRS patients showed impairments in all seven cognitive tasks and volume reductions in 12 cortical regions following Bonferroni correction. The MB-PLS-C analyses revealed two significant latent variables (LVs) explaining > 90% of the sum-of-squares variance. LV1 explained 78.86% of the sum-of-squares variance, describing a shared, widespread structure-cognitive pattern relevant to both TRS patients and HCs. In contrast, LV2 (13.47% of sum-of-squares variance explained) appeared specific to TRS and comprised a differential cortico-cognitive pattern including frontal and temporal lobes as well as paired associates learning (PAL) and intra-extra dimensional set shifting (IED). Three-group analyses also identified two significant LVs, with NARs more closely resembling healthy controls than TRS patients. CONCLUSIONS: MB-PLS-C analyses identified multivariate brain structural-cognitive patterns in the latent space that may provide a TRS signature.
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    Structural and functional brain abnormalities in children with schizotypal disorder: a pilot study
    Wang, Y ; Harding, IH ; Testa, R ; Tonge, B ; Jones, H ; Seal, M ; Ross, N ; Chan, RCK ; van Beurden, F ; Abu-Akel, A ; Skafidas, E ; Pantelis, C (Springer Nature, 2020-03-18)
    Schizotypal disorder lies in the schizophrenia spectrum and is widely studied in adult populations. Schizotypal disorder in children (SDc) is less well described. This study examined brain morphological and functional connectivity abnormalities in SDc (12 SDc and 9 typically developing children), focusing on the default mode and executive control brain networks. Results indicated that SDc is associated with reduced grey matter volume (GMV) in superior and medial frontal gyri, and increased resting-state functional connectivity between the superior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule, compared to typically developing children (cluster-level FWE-corrected p < 0.05). The brain structure abnormality (GMV in left superior frontal gyrus) was correlated with clinical symptoms in SDc (r = −0.66, p = 0.026) and functional connectivity abnormality was correlated with extra-dimensional shifting impairments in all participants (r = 0.62, p = 0.011), suggesting their contribution to the underlying mechanisms of clinical presentation. These preliminary results motivate further work to characterize the neural basis of SDc and its significance as a risk factor for later psychosis.