Data-driven Neuroanatomical Subtypes in Various Stages of Schizophrenia: Linking cortical thickness, glutamate, and language functioning
Abstract
The considerable variation in the spatial distribution of cortical thickness changes has been used to parse heterogeneity in schizophrenia. We aimed to recover a ‘cortical impoverishment’ subgroup with widespread cortical thinning. We applied hierarchical cluster analysis to cortical thickness data of three datasets in different stages of psychosis and studied the cognitive, functional, neurochemical, language and symptom profiles of the observed subgroups. Our consensus-based clustering procedure consistently produced a subgroup characterized by significantly lower cortical thickness. This ‘cortical impoverishment’ subgroup was associated with a higher symptom burden in a clinically stable sample and higher glutamate levels with language impairments in the first-episode sample. Overall, cortical thinning is more prevalent among patients, especially those with glutamate excess and speech dysfunctions in the early stages and higher residual symptom burden at later stages.