Francesco Carletti1, 2, Shannon H. Kolind1, 3, James B. Woolley2, Rocio Perez-Iglesias2, Matthew R. Broome4, Elvira Bramon2, Louise Johns5, Steve C.R. Williams1, Philip K. McGuire2, Gareth J. Barker1
1Department of Neuroimaging, Center for Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; 2Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom; 3FMRIB Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; 4Health Science Research Institute, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom; 5Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
Structural neuroimaging studies indicate that psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia are associated with white matter (WM) abnormalities, and some of these changes are evident before the onset of psychosis. We investigated a cohort at 'ultra-high-risk' (UHR) for developing psychosis using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) by comparing individual subjects data to a population based mean and standard deviation (z-score mapping). Our aim was to assess, prior to psychosis onset, whether z-score mapping can detect at the individual level FA changes in (i) UHR compared to controls (ii) UHR subjects who subsequently became psychotic versus those who did not.