The Deficits of Individual Morphological Covariance Network Architecture in Schizophrenia Patients With and Without Violence.

Danlin Shen,Yi Liao,Changjian Qiu,Junmei Hu,Qiyong Gong,Xiaoqi Huang,Jing Li,Qing Li,Jianmei Liu,Tao Li,Yuanyuan Li

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.777447

Abstract

Background: Schizophrenia is associated with a significant increase in the risk of violence, which constitutes a public health concern and contributes to stigma associated with mental illness. Although previous studies revealed structural and functional abnormalities in individuals with violent schizophrenia (VSZ), the neural basis of psychotic violence remains controversial.Methods: In this study, high-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were acquired from 18 individuals with VSZ, 23 individuals with non-VSZ (NSZ), and 22 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs). Whole-brain voxel-based morphology and individual morphological covariance networks were analysed to reveal differences in gray matter volume (GMV) and individual morphological covariance network topology. Relationships among abnormal GMV, network topology, and clinical assessments were examined using correlation analyses.Results: GMV in the hypothalamus gradually decreased from HCs and NSZ to VSZ and showed significant differences between all pairs of groups. Graph theory analyses revealed that morphological covariance networks of HCs, NSZ, and VSZ exhibited small worldness. Significant differences in network topology measures, including global efficiency, shortest path length, and nodal degree, were found. Furthermore, changes in GMV and network topology were closely related to clinical performance in the NSZ and VSZ groups.Conclusions: These findings revealed the important role of local structural abnormalities of the hypothalamus and global network topological impairments in the neuropathology of NSZ and VSZ, providing new insight into the neural basis of and markers for VSZ and NSZ to facilitate future accurate clinical diagnosis and targeted treatment.

Highlights

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a serious mental disorder affecting 1% of the world’s population in terms of thinking, feeling, and behaviors that cause abnormal perceptions of reality [1]
We aimed to explore structural and topological differences in gray matter volume (GMV) and individual morphological covariance networks among healthy controls (HCs) and individuals with non-violent schizophrenia (VSZ) (NSZ) and VSZ
Post-hoc two-sample t-tests found significantly lower GMVs in SZ patients compared with HCs and significantly lower GMVs in VSZ patients compared with NSZ patients (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a serious mental disorder affecting 1% of the world’s population in terms of thinking, feeling, and behaviors that cause abnormal perceptions of reality [1]. Patients with SZ have an elevated risk for aggression and violent behavior, which leads to fear and contributes to the major stigma of this disease [2]. Previous studies have reported that environmental factors, such as low socio-economic status and childhood trauma, may lead to violence in SZ [3,4,5], increasing evidence indicates that neurobiological factors may play a key role in the increased risk of violence in individuals with SZ [6, 7]. Schizophrenia is associated with a significant increase in the risk of violence, which constitutes a public health concern and contributes to stigma associated with mental illness. Previous studies revealed structural and functional abnormalities in individuals with violent schizophrenia (VSZ), the neural basis of psychotic violence remains controversial

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion