Temporal and frontal cortical thickness associations with M100 auditory activity and attention in healthy controls and individuals with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Although gray matter (GM) abnormalities are frequently observed in individuals with schizophrenia (SCZ), the functional consequences of these structural abnormalities are not yet understood. The present study sought to better understand GM abnormalities in SCZ by examining associations between GM and two putative functional SCZ biomarkers: weak 100 ms (M100) auditory responses and impairment on tests of attention.
METHODS: Data were available from 103 subjects (healthy controls=52, SCZ=51). GM cortical thickness measures were obtained for superior temporal gyrus (STG) and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Magnetoencephalography (MEG) provided measures of left and right STG M100 source strength. Subjects were administered the Trail Making Test A and the Connors' Continuous Performance Test to assess attention.
RESULTS: A strong trend indicated less GM cortical thickness in SCZ than controls in both regions and in both hemispheres (p=0.06). Individuals with SCZ had weaker M100 responses than controls bilaterally, and individuals with SCZ performed more poorly than controls on tests of attention. Across groups, left STG GM was positively associated with left M00 source strength. In SCZ only, less left and right STG and PFC GM predicted poorer performance on tests of attention. After removing variance in attention associated with age, associations between GM and attention remained significant only in left and right STG.
CONCLUSIONS: Reduced GM cortical thickness may serve as a common substrate for multiple functional abnormalities in SCZ, with structural-functional abnormalities in STG GM especially prominent. As suggested by others, functional abnormalities in SCZ may be a consequence of elimination of the neuropil (dendritic arbors and associated synaptic infrastructure) between neuron bodies.