Vahid Farnia1, Firoozeh Farshchian1, Nazanin Farshchian2, Mostafa Alikhani1, Dena Sadeghi Bahmani1,3,4, Serge Brand5,6,7. 1. Department of Psychiatry, Substance Abuse Prevention Research Center, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. 2. Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. 3. University of Basel, Psychiatric Clinics (UPK), Center for Affective, Stress, and Sleep Disorders (ZASS), Basel, Switzerland. 4. Isfahan Neurosciences Research Center, Alzahra Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. 5. Department of Psychiatry, Substance Abuse Prevention Research Center, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran, serge.brand@upkbs.ch. 6. University of Basel, Psychiatric Clinics (UPK), Center for Affective, Stress, and Sleep Disorders (ZASS), Basel, Switzerland, serge.brand@upkbs.ch. 7. University of Basel, Department of Sport, Exercise, and Health, Division of Sport Science and Psychosocial Health, Basel, Switzerland, serge.brand@upkbs.ch.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Several psychological and neurological pathways are described to explain the emergence and maintenance of psychiatric disorders, and changes in brain volumes and brain activity are observed as correlates of psychiatric disorders. In the present study, we investigated if and to what extent specific voxel-based morphometric brain volume differences could be observed among individuals with methamphetamine-induced psychosis (MAIP) and schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) compared to healthy controls. METHODS: A total of 69 individuals took part in the present study. Of those, 26 were diagnosed with MAIP, 23 with SSD, and 20 were healthy controls. After a thorough psychiatric assessment, participants underwent brain volume measurement. RESULTS: Compared to healthy controls, participants with MAIP had smaller volumes for left caudate and left and right parahippocampal gyrus. Compared to healthy controls, participants with SSD had smaller volumes for the gray and white matter, left amygdala, left hippocampus, left parahippocampal gyrus, left putamen, and the total volume. Compared to individuals with MAIP, individuals with SSD had a lower white matter brain volume. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of results suggests that individuals with MAIP and SSD showed specific and regional brain atrophies on the left hemisphere, always compared to healthy controls. Given the cross-sectional design, it remains undisclosed if specific and regional brain atrophies were the cause or the consequence of the psychiatric issues.
BACKGROUND: Several psychological and neurological pathways are described to explain the emergence and maintenance of psychiatric disorders, and changes in brain volumes and brain activity are observed as correlates of psychiatric disorders. In the present study, we investigated if and to what extent specific voxel-based morphometric brain volume differences could be observed among individuals with methamphetamine-induced psychosis (MAIP) and schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) compared to healthy controls. METHODS: A total of 69 individuals took part in the present study. Of those, 26 were diagnosed with MAIP, 23 with SSD, and 20 were healthy controls. After a thorough psychiatric assessment, participants underwent brain volume measurement. RESULTS: Compared to healthy controls, participants with MAIP had smaller volumes for left caudate and left and right parahippocampal gyrus. Compared to healthy controls, participants with SSD had smaller volumes for the gray and white matter, left amygdala, left hippocampus, left parahippocampal gyrus, left putamen, and the total volume. Compared to individuals with MAIP, individuals with SSD had a lower white matter brain volume. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of results suggests that individuals with MAIP and SSD showed specific and regional brain atrophies on the left hemisphere, always compared to healthy controls. Given the cross-sectional design, it remains undisclosed if specific and regional brain atrophies were the cause or the consequence of the psychiatric issues.