Data_Sheet_1_Increased brain gyrification and subsequent relapse in patients with first-episode schizophrenia.docx

Most schizophrenia patients experience psychotic relapses, which may compromise long-term outcome. However, it is difficult to objectively assess the actual risk of relapse for each patient as the biological changes underlying relapse remain unknown. The present study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate the relationship between brain gyrification pattern and subsequent relapse in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. The subjects consisted of 19 patients with and 33 patients without relapse during a 3-year clinical follow-up after baseline MRI scanning. Using FreeSurfer software, we compared the local gyrification index (LGI) between the relapsed and non-relapsed groups. In the relapsed group, we also explored the relationship among LGI and the number of relapses and time to first relapse after MRI scanning. Relapsed patients exhibited a significantly higher LGI in the bilateral parietal and left occipital areas than non-relapsed patients. In addition, the time to first relapse was negatively correlated with LGI in the right inferior temporal cortex. These findings suggest that increased LGI in the temporo-parieto-occipital regions in first-episode schizophrenia patients may be a potential prognostic biomarker that reflects relapse susceptibility in the early course of the illness.

大多数精神分裂症患者均经历精神病性复发，这可能会损害其长期预后。然而，由于导致复发的潜在生物学变化尚不明确，因此难以客观评估每位患者实际的复发风险。本研究采用磁共振成像（MRI）技术，旨在探究脑沟回模式与首次发病精神分裂症患者后续复发之间的关系。研究对象包括19名在基线MRI扫描后的3年临床随访期间复发的患者以及33名无复发的患者。利用FreeSurfer软件，我们比较了复发组与无复发组之间的局部沟回指数（LGI）。在复发组中，我们还探讨了LGI与复发次数及MRI扫描后首次复发时间之间的关系。复发患者在双侧顶叶和左侧枕叶区域的LGI显著高于无复发患者。此外，首次复发时间与右侧颞下叶皮层的LGI呈负相关。这些发现表明，首次发病精神分裂症患者颞顶枕区域LGI的增加可能是一个潜在的预后生物标志物，它反映了疾病早期阶段的复发易感性。