Neural Substrates of Schizophrenia-Spectrum Behavior in Typically-Developing Children: Further Evidence of a Normal-Pathological Continuum
Publication Date
2016
Description
Schizophrenia represents the extreme end of a distribution of traits that extends well into the general population. Using a recently developed measure of psychotic-like traits in children, we examined the neural substrates of psychotic (and other psychiatric) symptoms using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Twenty-eight typically-developing children (14 males) between the ages of 6-17 years underwent a 3T MRI scan. Parents completed the Psychiatric and Schizotypal Inventory for Children. Results revealed that caudate, amygdala, hippocampal and middle temporal gyrus volumes were associated with quantitative dimensions of psychiatric traits. Furthermore, results suggest a differential a sexually-dimorphic pattern of brain-schizotypy associations. These findings highlight brain-behavior continuities between clinical conditions such as schizophrenia and normal trait variation in typical development.
Journal
Behavioural Brain Research
Volume
315
First Page
141
Last Page
146
Department
Psychology
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2016.08.034
Recommended Citation
Evans, David W.. "Neural Substrates of Schizophrenia-Spectrum Behavior in Typically-Developing Children: Further Evidence of a Normal-Pathological Continuum." Behavioural Brain Research (2016) : 141-146.