BACKGROUND: Adolescents with first-episode psychosis have increased severity of neurological soft signs when compared with controls, but it is unclear whether increased severity of neurological soft signs is an expression of specific structural brain deficits. AIMS: To examine whether increased severity of neurological soft signs was associated with decreased brain volumes in adolescents with first-episode psychosis. METHOD: Brain scans were obtained for 70 adolescents (less than 18 years of age) with first-episode psychosis (duration of positive symptoms less than 6 months). Volumes were assessed using voxel-based morphometry and through segmentation of anatomical structures. RESULTS: Increased severity of sensory integration neurological soft signs correlated with smaller right and left thalamus volume, whereas increased severity of sequencing of complex motor acts neurological soft signs correlated with smaller right caudate volume. CONCLUSIONS: Neurological soft signs may be an easy-to-assess marker of region-specific structural brain deficits in adolescents with first-episode psychosis.
BACKGROUND: Adolescents with first-episode psychosis have increased severity of neurological soft signs when compared with controls, but it is unclear whether increased severity of neurological soft signs is an expression of specific structural brain deficits. AIMS: To examine whether increased severity of neurological soft signs was associated with decreased brain volumes in adolescents with first-episode psychosis. METHOD: Brain scans were obtained for 70 adolescents (less than 18 years of age) with first-episode psychosis (duration of positive symptoms less than 6 months). Volumes were assessed using voxel-based morphometry and through segmentation of anatomical structures. RESULTS: Increased severity of sensory integration neurological soft signs correlated with smaller right and left thalamus volume, whereas increased severity of sequencing of complex motor acts neurological soft signs correlated with smaller right caudate volume. CONCLUSIONS: Neurological soft signs may be an easy-to-assess marker of region-specific structural brain deficits in adolescents with first-episode psychosis.
Authors: Qing Zhao; Zhi Li; Jia Huang; Chao Yan; Paola Dazzan; Christos Pantelis; Eric F C Cheung; Simon S Y Lui; Raymond C K Chan Journal: Schizophr Bull Date: 2013-05-13 Impact factor: 9.306
Authors: Dusan Hirjak; Mahmoud Rashidi; Stefan Fritze; Alina L Bertolino; Lena S Geiger; Zhenxiang Zang; Katharina M Kubera; Mike M Schmitgen; Fabio Sambataro; Vince D Calhoun; Matthias Weisbrod; Heike Tost; Robert C Wolf Journal: Hum Brain Mapp Date: 2019-08-12 Impact factor: 5.038
Authors: Victor Peralta; Lucía Moreno-Izco; Ana Sanchez-Torres; Elena García de Jalón; Maria S Campos; Manuel J Cuesta Journal: Schizophr Bull Date: 2012-12-18 Impact factor: 9.306