Cortical and Subcortical Structural Morphometric Profiles in Individuals with Nonaffective and Affective Early Illness Psychosis

Research has found strong evidence for common and distinct morphometric brain abnormality profiles in nonaffective psychosis (NAff-P) and affective psychosis (Aff-P). Due to chronicity and prolonged medication exposure confounds, it is crucial to examine structural morphometry early in the course of psychosis. Using Human Connectome Project-Early Psychosis data, multivariate profile analyses were implemented to examine regional profiles for cortical thickness, cortical surface area, subcortical volume, and ventricular volume in healthy control (HC;  = 56), early illness NAff-P ( = 83), and Aff-P ( = 30) groups after accounting for normal aging. Associations with symptom severity, functioning, and cognition were also examined. Group regional profiles were significantly nonparallel and differed in level for cortical thickness ( < .001), with NAff-P having widespread cortical thinning relative to HC and Aff-P and some regions showing greater deficits than others. Significant nonparallelism of group regional profiles was also evident for cortical surface area ( < .006), with Aff-P and N-Aff-P differing from HC and from each other ( < .001). For subcortical volume, there was significant profile nonparallelism with NAff-P having an enlarged left pallidum and smaller accumbens and hippocampus ( < .028), and Aff-P having a smaller accumbens and amygdala ( < .006), relative to HC. NAff-P also had larger basal ganglia compared to Aff-P. Furthermore, NAff-P had enlarged ventricles ( < .055) compared to HC and Aff-P. Additionally, greater ventricular volume was associated with increased manic symptoms in NAff-P and Aff-P. Overall, this study found common and distinct regional morphometric profile abnormalities in early illness NAff-P and Aff-P, providing evidence for both shared and disease-specific pathophysiological processes.