Morphometric analysis of corpus callosum in first episode of psychosis: a 5-year longitudinal study

Abstract

Important theories about the pathophysiology of schizophrenia implicate impairment in brain connectivity and information processing as a central feature of the disorder. The corpus callosum (CC) is the main commissure connecting the brain hemispheres and its structure has been shown to be altered in schizophrenia, event at an early course of the illness. The aim of this study is to assess morphometric changes in the CC over 5 year of follow-up in patients first episode psychosis (FEP), using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) based on T1-weighted MRI scans. Moreover, the pattern of longitudinal morphometric changes between remitted and non-remitted FES patients will be compared, and will be also correlated with other clinical variables. The database studied here was collected during an epidemiological study of the incidence of psychotic disorders in Sao Paulo city. Our sample is comprised by 32 FEP patients and 34 epidemiological controls who completed the 5-year follow-up evaluation. The images will be processed and analyzed using the Statistical Parametric Mapping software 8.0 (SPM8). We hypothesize that FEP patients will present volumetric reductions affecting the anterior portions of CC at baseline and progression of this pattern over the 5 years of follow-up relative to controls, more pronounced in the non-remitted patients.