When psychosis first presents as a full blown episode, the symptoms are often severe and disabling. Over time, they reduce in frequency and intensity for many individuals. This pattern of severe symptoms in early stages, followed by reduced intensity over time, sets up the expectation that any concomitant changes in the brain will also follow the same pattern among those affected. But is this expectation backed up by observed data?
Peter Van Dyken, pursuing a combined MD/PhD degree, sought to answer this question. Peter works with our collaborator Ali Khan, an expert in the study of white matter using an imaging tool called Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI).
Peter used 2 different patient samples to generate replicated results. In both data sets, he consistently found that the early brain changes are limited in severity and distribution. White matter connections do change in established stages of the psychosis, but such changes do not appear to be a precondition for the first episode to develop.
To read more, see the original paper in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin Open. The figure below demonstrates that the changes in white matter volume are limited in the first episode stage of psychosis, but much more widespread in established cases.
