Abstract #0985

Structural and hemodynamical contributions to brain T2* relaxation in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and siblings

Jie Wen¹, Daniel Mamah², Jie Luo³, Xialing Ulrich¹, Deanna Barch⁴, and Dmitriy Yablonskiy¹

¹Radiology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO, United States, ²Psychiatry, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO, United States, ³Research Lab of Electronics, MIT, Cambridge, MA, United States, ⁴Psychology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO, United States

Investigating brain structure and functioning by means of tissue-specific T2* relaxation properties in vivo can potentially guide the uncovering of neuropathology in psychiatric illness. In this abstract, R2* (=1/T2*) relaxation rate constant was separated into tissue-specific (R2*_t) and hemodynamic BOLD contributions. 17 control, 17 bipolar disorder, 16 schizophrenia, and 12 unaffected schizophrenia sibling participants were scanned. A MANOVA of 38 gray matter regions showed significant group effects for BOLD but not for R2*_t. Our results suggest that increased baseline activity in certain brain regions is part of the underlying pathophysiology of specific psychiatric disorders.

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