High risk cohort study for psychiatric disorders in childhood: 3-year follow-up neuroimaging study

Abstract

It has been suggested that psychiatric disorders can evolve from an atypical neurodevelopmental process. It is crucial to understand the typical trajectory of neurodevelopment and their periods of greatest vulnerability to study the possible implications of deviations in the pathophysiology of mental disorders. This study aims to evaluate the differences in the trajectories of brain development in healthy children, children at high-risk for mental disorders, children diagnosed with psychopathology at baseline and at three years of follow up. This cohort consists of 750 children aged 7-15 years from the National Institute for Developmental Psychiatry for Children and Adolescents (INCT-INPD). The INPD is the largest national cohort study, and one of the largest international cohorts whose objective is to evaluate the origin of neurodevelopmental atypical trajectory and their expression as mental illness, and also to establish new strategies for prevention and treatment for these disorders. From the initial sample, all subjects will be reassessed 3 years after the baseline using the same battery questionnaires. Clinical evaluation includes, but is not limited to the re-application of DAWBA, M.I.N.I., stressors evaluation and symptom scale. The same individuals who underwent to a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) at baseline in Sao Paulo (n=375 from a total of 750 of the original cohort) will be invited to repeat the procedure. With the follow-up study we aim to evaluate and identify the profiles of developmental trajectory for both structural and functional aspects of the brain and thus advance the understanding of the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders. We believe that this study will contribute significantly to new approaches for early detection and risk factors related to mental disorders (AU)