The Relationship of Developmental Changes in White Matter to the Onset of Psychosis

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Relationship of Developmental Changes in White Matter to the Onset of Psychosis

AU - Karlsgodt, Katherine H.

AU - Jacobson, Sarah C.

AU - Seal, Marc

AU - Fusar-Poli, Paolo

PY - 2012/2

Y1 - 2012/2

N2 - Schizophrenia is a disorder with a pronounced developmental component. Accordingly, there is a growing interest in characterizing developmental changes in the period leading up to disease onset, in an effort to develop effective preventative interventions. One of the ongoing neurodevelopmental changes known to occur in the late adolescent period that often overlaps with the prodromal phase and time of onset is white matter development and myelination. In this critical review, a disruption in the normal trajectory of white matter development could potentially play an important role in the onset of psychosis. We seek to summarize the existing state of research on white matter development in prodromal subjects, with a particular focus on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures. First, we describe the physiological basis of developmental white matter changes and myelination. Next, we characterize the pattern of white matter changes associated with typical development across adolescence as measured with DTI. Then, we discuss white matter changes observed in adult patients with schizophrenia and in individuals seen in genetic and clinical high risk states. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for future research directions and for potential therapeutic interventions.

AB - Schizophrenia is a disorder with a pronounced developmental component. Accordingly, there is a growing interest in characterizing developmental changes in the period leading up to disease onset, in an effort to develop effective preventative interventions. One of the ongoing neurodevelopmental changes known to occur in the late adolescent period that often overlaps with the prodromal phase and time of onset is white matter development and myelination. In this critical review, a disruption in the normal trajectory of white matter development could potentially play an important role in the onset of psychosis. We seek to summarize the existing state of research on white matter development in prodromal subjects, with a particular focus on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures. First, we describe the physiological basis of developmental white matter changes and myelination. Next, we characterize the pattern of white matter changes associated with typical development across adolescence as measured with DTI. Then, we discuss white matter changes observed in adult patients with schizophrenia and in individuals seen in genetic and clinical high risk states. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for future research directions and for potential therapeutic interventions.

KW - Schizophrenia

KW - white matter

KW - high-risk

KW - development

KW - adolescence

KW - myelination

KW - diffusion tensor imaging

KW - neuroimaging

KW - RISK MENTAL STATE

KW - HIGH GENETIC RISK

KW - ULTRA-HIGH-RISK

KW - MAPPING BRAIN MATURATION

KW - CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM

KW - TEMPORAL GYRUS VOLUME

KW - FATTY-ACID DEFICIENCY

KW - REGIONAL GRAY-MATTER

KW - DIFFUSION TENSOR MRI

KW - SPINAL-CORD-INJURY

U2 - 10.2174/138161212799316073

DO - 10.2174/138161212799316073

M3 - Literature review

SN - 1381-6128

VL - 18

SP - 422

EP - 433

JO - Current Pharmaceutical Design

JF - Current Pharmaceutical Design

IS - 4

M1 - N/A

ER -