A neuroimaging biomarker for striatal dysfunction in schizophrenia

Nat Med. 2020 Apr;26(4):558-565. doi: 10.1038/s41591-020-0793-8. Epub 2020 Mar 23.

Abstract

Mounting evidence suggests that function and connectivity of the striatum is disrupted in schizophrenia1-5. We have developed a new hypothesis-driven neuroimaging biomarker for schizophrenia identification, prognosis and subtyping based on functional striatal abnormalities (FSA). FSA scores provide a personalized index of striatal dysfunction, ranging from normal to highly pathological. Using inter-site cross-validation on functional magnetic resonance images acquired from seven independent scanners (n = 1,100), FSA distinguished individuals with schizophrenia from healthy controls with an accuracy exceeding 80% (sensitivity, 79.3%; specificity, 81.5%). In two longitudinal cohorts, inter-individual variation in baseline FSA scores was significantly associated with antipsychotic treatment response. FSA revealed a spectrum of severity in striatal dysfunction across neuropsychiatric disorders, where dysfunction was most severe in schizophrenia, milder in bipolar disorder, and indistinguishable from healthy individuals in depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Loci of striatal hyperactivity recapitulated the spatial distribution of dopaminergic function and the expression profiles of polygenic risk for schizophrenia. In conclusion, we have developed a new biomarker to index striatal dysfunction and established its utility in predicting antipsychotic treatment response, clinical stratification and elucidating striatal dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Antipsychotic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Biomarkers* / analysis
  • Biomarkers, Pharmacological / analysis
  • Brain Mapping / methods
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Corpus Striatum / diagnostic imaging*
  • Corpus Striatum / physiopathology*
  • Female
  • Functional Neuroimaging / methods
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuroimaging / methods*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Research Design
  • Schizophrenia / diagnosis*
  • Schizophrenia / drug therapy
  • Schizophrenia / physiopathology
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Support Vector Machine
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antipsychotic Agents
  • Biomarkers
  • Biomarkers, Pharmacological