Association between polygenic risk for schizophrenia and retinal morphology: A cross-sectional analysis of the United Kingdom Biobank.

We examined the relationship between genetic risk for schizophrenia (SZ), using polygenic risk scores (PRSs), and retinal morphological alterations. Retinal structural and vascular indices derived from optical coherence tomography (OCT) and color fundus photography (CFP) and PRSs for SZ were analyzed in N = 35,024 individuals from the prospective cohort study, United Kingdom Biobank (UKB). Results indicated that macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (mGC-IPL) thickness was significantly inversely related to PRS for SZ, and this relationship was strongest within higher PRS quintiles and independent of potential confounders and age.

Retinal Neurodegeneration as a Potential Biomarker of Accelerated Aging in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders.

Background And Hypotheses: Several biological markers are believed to reflect accelerated aging in schizophrenia spectrum disorders; however, retinal neural changes have not yet been explored as potential CNS biomarkers of accelerated aging in this population. The aim of this study was to determine whether retinal neural layer thinning is more strongly related to age in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder patients (SZ) than in a psychiatrically healthy control group (CON).

Study Design: Schizophrenia (n = 60) and CON participants (n = 69) underwent spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans to examine the following variables in both eyes: retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, macula central subfield (CSF) thickness, macula volume, ganglion cell layer-inner plexiform layer (GCL-IPL) thickness, optic cup volume, and cup-to-disc ratio.

The Indirect Effect of Peritraumatic Dissociation on the Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and Schizotypy.

Schizotypy is a multidimensional personality construct that is understood as a vulnerability for schizophrenia, often manifesting as more subtle and attenuated symptoms, referred to as schizotypic psychopathology. It has many well-established environmental risk factors, including experiencing childhood maltreatment (CM), but the intermediary mechanisms that relate CM to schizotypic psychopathology are unclear. Prior studies have demonstrated that trait dissociation may indirectly affect the relationship between CM and schizotypic psychopathology.

Theory of Mind and Alexithymia in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Young Adults.

The aim of the current study was to examine theory of mind (ToM), the ability to infer the mental states of others, in young adults who are deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH), and to explore the influence of alexithymia, an inability to understand emotions of the self and others, on ToM performance in this group. Compared to participants with typical hearing, DHH participants displayed significantly lower affective ToM skills and greater alexithymia. After accounting for verbal intelligence quotient, hearing status and alexithymia significantly contributed to poorer ToM performance, accounting for over 14% of the variance.