Different gray matter patterns in chronic schizophrenia and chronic bipolar disorder patients identified using voxel-based morphometry.

Gray matter (GM) volume deficits have been described in patients with schizophrenia (Sz) and bipolar disorder (BD), but to date, few studies have directly compared GM volumes between these syndromes with methods allowing for whole-brain comparisons. We have used structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to compare GM volumes between 38 Sz and 19 BD chronic patients. We also included 24 healthy controls.

Voxel-based morphometry comparison between first episodes of psychosis with and without evolution to schizophrenia.

First episodes (FE) of psychosis may evolve or not to schizophrenia in ensuing years, but there is a lack of reliable predictors of which patients will have to face such an unfavorable outcome. Given the replicated structural alterations of the brain in schizophrenia, it seems advisable to assess whether the alterations of this kind that can be detected at the time of an initial psychotic episode are different depending on the outcome of the patients. To this end, here we applied voxel-based morphometry to assess whether the degree of cerebral abnormalities differ between 30 FE patients who evolved to schizophrenia in the ensuing 2years and another 14 FE patients who could not be diagnosed as such during that period.