The British Journal of Psychiatry (2007) 191: 229-233. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.106.034595
© 2007 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Sulcal thickness as a vulnerability indicator for schizophrenia

Vina M. Goghari, MA

Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota

Kelly Rehm, PhD

Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minnesota

Cameron S. Carter, MD

Imaging Research Center, University of California, Davis, California

Angus W. Macdonald, PhD

Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA

Correspondence: Angus W. MacDonald, III, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, N218 Elliott Hall, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Tel: +1 612 624 3813; fax: +1 612 625 6668; email: angus{at}umn.edu

Declaration of interest None.

Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

Background People with schizophrenia may demonstrate cortical abnormalities, with gyri and sulci potentially being differentially affected.

Aims To measure frontal and temporal sulcal cortical thickness, surface area and volume in the non-psychotic relatives of patients with schizophrenia as a potential vulnerability indicator for the disorder.

Method An automated parcellation method was used to measure the superior frontal, inferior frontal, cingulate, superior temporal and inferior temporal sulci in the relatives of patients (n=19) and controls (n=22).

Results Compared with controls, relatives had reversed hemispheric asymmetry in their cingulate sulcal thickness and a bilateral reduction in their superior temporal sulcal thickness.

Conclusions Cingulate and superior temporal sulcal thickness abnormalities may reflect neural abnormalities associated with the genetic liability to schizophrenia. Cortical thinning in these regions suggests that liability genes affect the dendrites, synapses or myelination process during the neurodevelopment of the cortical mantle.


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