Study On Grey Matter Volume And Resting State Brain Function Of Schizophrenia And First-degree Relatives

Objective:To investigate the characteristics of brain structure and brain function in patients with schizophrenia and their unaffected first-degree relatives.Methods: Structural and resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 26 patients with schizophrenia,21 unaffected first-degree relatives and 22 age-and sex-matched healthy controls.The structural magnetic resonance data were analyzed based on voxel morphology analysis,the gray matter volume of each voxel was statistically analyzed by ANCOVA analysis,and the correlation between gray matter volume of each brain region and PANSS positive and negative symptoms was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis.In addition,the resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were analyzed by voxel-based degree centrality method,and the differences of degree centrality values among the three groups were compared by ANOVA analysis.Finally,the correlation between the degree centrality values of different brain regions and the course of disease and pathological features of schizophrenia patients was analyzed.Results:The statistical analysis of the general data of the three groups showed that there was no significant difference in age,sex and years of education among the schizophrenia group,the unaffected first-degree relative group and the healthy control group.The results of structural magnetic resonance analysis showed that the gray matter volumes of bilateral putamen and thalamus in schizophrenia patients and unaffected first-degree relatives were higher than those in healthy controls,and there was no significant difference between schizophrenia patients and unaffected first-degree relatives.In schizophrenia group,the negative PANSS score was negatively correlated with the gray matter volume of the left posterior cingulate,while the PANSS positive score was positively correlated with the gray matter volume of the right putamen and right superior frontal gyrus.The results of functional magnetic resonance imaging showed that the degree centrality values of the left amygdala in the schizophrenia group and the unaffected first degree relatives group were lower than those in the healthy control group,while the degree centrality values in the right superior frontal gyrus were higher than those in the healthy control group.Conclusion:This study shows that there are abnormal changes in brain structure and brain function in patients with schizophrenia and their unaffected first-degree relatives.