Cortical and subcortical neuroanatomical signatures of schizotypy in 3004 individuals assessed in a worldwide ENIGMA study

Neuroanatomical abnormalities have been reported along a continuum from at-risk stages, including high schizotypy, to early and chronic psychosis. However, a comprehensive neuroanatomical mapping of schizotypy remains to be established. The authors conducted the first large-scale meta-analyses of cortical and subcortical morphometric patterns of schizotypy in healthy individuals, and compared these patterns with neuroanatomical abnormalities observed in major psychiatric disorders. The sample comprised 3004 unmedicated healthy individuals (12-68 years, 46.5% male) from 29 cohorts of the worldwide ENIGMA Schizotypy working group. Cortical and subcortical effect size maps with schizotypy scores were generated using standardized methods. Pattern similarities were assessed between the schizotypy-related cortical and subcortical maps and effect size maps from comparisons of schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BD) and major depression (MDD) patients with controls. Thicker right medial orbitofrontal/ventromedial prefrontal cortex (mOFC/vmPFC) was associated with higher schizotypy scores (r = 0.067, p(FDR) = 0.02). The cortical thickness profile in schizotypy was positively correlated with cortical abnormalities in SZ (r = 0.285, p(spin) = 0.024), but not BD (r = 0.166, p(spin) = 0.205) or MDD (r = -0.274, p(spin) = 0.073). The schizotypy-related subcortical volume pattern was negatively correlated with subcortical abnormalities in SZ (rho = -0.690, p(spin) = 0.006), BD (rho = -0.672, p(spin) = 0.009), and MDD (rho = -0.692, p(spin) = 0.004). Comprehensive mapping of schizotypy-related brain morphometry in the general population revealed a significant relationship between higher schizotypy and thicker mOFC/vmPFC, in the absence of confounding effects due to antipsychotic medication or disease chronicity. The cortical pattern similarity between schizotypy and schizophrenia yields new insights into a dimensional neurobiological continuity across the extended psychosis phenotype.

Automated summary

Neuroanatomical abnormalities have been reported to be present from high schizotypy to chronic psychosis. A study conducted a large-scale meta-analysis of cortical and subcortical morphometric patterns of schizotypy in healthy individuals, revealing thicker right medial orbitofrontal/ventromedial prefrontal cortex associated with higher schizotypy scores. The cortical thickness profile in schizotypy showed positive correlation with abnormalities in schizophrenia, while the subcortical volume pattern demonstrated negative correlation with abnormalities in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression.