Microstructural Findings in White Matter Associated with Cannabis and Alcohol Use in Early-Phase Psychosis: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Relaxometry Study.

Accumulating evidence suggests that brain white matter (WM) abnormalities may be central to the pathophysiology of psychotic disorders. In addition, there is evidence that cannabis use and alcohol use each is associated with WM abnormalities. However, there are very limited data on the effects of these substances on WM microstructure in patients with psychosis, especially for those at the early phase of illness.

Is performance on probed serial recall tasks in schizophrenia related to duration of Attentional Blink?

Schizophrenia is associated with a deficit in working memory, with the degree of working memory impairment related to the level of social and occupational functioning. This study tests the hypothesis that the working memory deficits in individuals with schizophrenia can be explained by slow processing of visual stimuli, as measured by the attentional blink (AB) task. Individuals with schizophrenia (SC) and controls (HC) were recruited from an early intervention service for psychosis and the local community.

Illness versus substance use effects on the frontal white matter in early phase schizophrenia: A 4Tesla (1)H-MRS study.

Objective: Young adults with early phase schizophrenia often report a past or current pattern of illicit substance use and/or alcohol misuse. Still, little is known about the cumulative and separate effects of each stressor on white matter tissue, at this vulnerable period of brain development.

Methods: Participants involved 24 healthy controls with a past or current history of sustained illicit drug use and/or alcohol misuse (users), 23 healthy controls without such history (normative data), and 27 users with early phase schizophrenia.

NPAS3 variants in schizophrenia: a neuroimaging study.

Background: This research is a one-site neuroimaging component of a two-site genetic study involving patients with schizophrenia at early and later stages of illness. Studies support a role for the neuronal Per-Arnt-Sim 3 (NPAS3) gene in processes that are essential for normal brain development. Specific NPAS3 variants have been observed at an increased frequency in schizophrenia.

Multimodal neuroimaging of frontal white matter microstructure in early phase schizophrenia: the impact of early adolescent cannabis use.

Background: A disturbance in connectivity between different brain regions, rather than abnormalities within the separate regions themselves, could be responsible for the clinical symptoms and cognitive dysfunctions observed in schizophrenia. White matter, which comprises axons and their myelin sheaths, provides the physical foundation for functional connectivity in the brain. Myelin sheaths are located around the axons and provide insulation through the lipid membranes of oligodendrocytes.