Unified and disease specific alterations to brain structure in patients across six categories of mental disorders who experience own-thought auditory verbal hallucinations: A pilot study

Chuanjun Zhuo; Xiaodong Lin; Chunxiang Wang; Xueqin Song; Xuexin Xu; Gongying Li; Yong Xu; Hongjun Tian; Yonghui Zhang; Wenqiang Wang; Chunhua Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.brainresbull.2020.04.001

Unified and disease specific alterations to brain structure in patients across six categories of mental disorders who experience own-thought auditory verbal hallucinations: A pilot study

Brain Res Bull. 2020 Jul:160:33-39. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2020.04.001. Epub 2020 Apr 13.

Authors

Chuanjun Zhuo¹, Xiaodong Lin², Chunxiang Wang³, Xueqin Song⁴, Xuexin Xu³, Gongying Li⁵, Yong Xu⁶, Hongjun Tian⁷, Yonghui Zhang⁷, Wenqiang Wang⁸, Chunhua Zhou⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Psychiatry, School of Mental Health, Jining Medical University, 272191, Jining, Shandong Province, China; The First Affiliated Hospital/Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China; Biological Psychiatry International Joint Laboratory of Henan, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China; Henan Psychiatric Transformation Research Key Laboratory, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450000, China; Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Centre, Wenzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Wenzhou, 325000, Zhejiang Province, China; Department of Psychiatry, First Hospital/First Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China; MDT Center for Cognitive Impairment and Sleep Disorders, First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, 030001, China; Department of Psychiatric-Neuroimging-Genetics and Comorbidity Labotorary (PNGC_Lab), Tianjin Anding Hospital, 300300, Tianjin, China; Canada and China Joint Laboratory of Biological Psychiatry, Xiamen Xianye Hospital, Xiamen, 361000, Fujian Province, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Centre, Wenzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Wenzhou, 325000, Zhejiang Province, China.
³ Department of Radiology, MRI Center, Tianjin Children Hospital, Tianjin Medical University Affiliated Tianjin Children Hospital, Tianjin, 300444, China.
⁴ The First Affiliated Hospital/Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China; Biological Psychiatry International Joint Laboratory of Henan, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China; Henan Psychiatric Transformation Research Key Laboratory, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450000, China.
⁵ Department of Biological Psychiatry, School of Mental Health, Jining Medical University, 272191, Jining, Shandong Province, China.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, First Hospital/First Clinical Medical College of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China.
⁷ Department of Psychiatric-Neuroimging-Genetics and Comorbidity Labotorary (PNGC_Lab), Tianjin Anding Hospital, 300300, Tianjin, China.
⁸ Canada and China Joint Laboratory of Biological Psychiatry, Xiamen Xianye Hospital, Xiamen, 361000, Fujian Province, China.
⁹ Department of Pharmacology, The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050000, Hebei Province, China.

PMID: 32298780
DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2020.04.001

Abstract

Objective: To explore the unified and disease specific structural features of the brain in patients spanning six mental disorders who experience own-thought auditory verbal hallucinations (OTAVH).

Methods: A pilot study was conducted on 25 patients with schizophrenia (FUSCH-OTAVH), 20 patients with major depression disorder (FUMDD-OTAVH), 28 patients with bipolar disorder (FUBD-OTAVH), 22 patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (FUPTSD-OTAVH), 21 patients with anxiety disorder (FUAD-OTAVH), and 27 patients with borderline personality disorder (FUBPD-OTAVH). Twenty-five healthy controls (HCs) were also recruited. Auditory Hallucinations Rating Scale (AHRS) multiple psychometric scales were adopted to assess the clinical features of voxel-based morphometry (VBM), tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS), and multiple regression in all patients. Common and specific brain features of OTAVH among these mental disorders were investigated.

Results: Compared to HCs, GMV aberrant pattern across all the six categories patients with OTAVH decreased in the occipital cortex, left parietal lobe, prefrontal cortex (PFC), and insular cortex (IC). Aberrant patterns in white matter (WM) were detected in the corpus callosum and impairment of the fronto-occipital fasciculus. Structural differences in the brain were observed for each mental disorder versus HCs.

Conclusions: The unified brain aberrant features of OTAVH across six mental disorders were characterized by decreased GMV and WM impairments in some regions and the specific brain features of each disease were also characterized. In conclusion, this study provides evidence for the structural basis of OTAVH and potential avenues for investigating disease specific brain features of OTAVH.

Keywords: Distinct features; Own-thought auditory verbal hallucinations; Shared features; Tract-based spatial statistics; Voxel-based morphometry.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Brain / diagnostic imaging*
Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
Female
Hallucinations / diagnostic imaging*
Hallucinations / psychology
Humans
Male
Mental Disorders / classification*
Mental Disorders / diagnostic imaging*
Mental Disorders / psychology
Pilot Projects
Young Adult