Joint Annual Meeting ISMRM-ESMRMB 2014 10-16 May 2014 Milan, Italy

SCIENTIFIC SESSION
Psychiatric Disorders

 
Thursday 15 May 2014
Silver  13:30 - 15:30 Moderators: Steven C. R. Williams, Ph.D., Natalie M. Zahr, Ph.D.

13:30 0832.   Subtypes of nucleus accumbens activations for anticipation of gains and losses in healthy and depressed subjects
Masaya Misaki1, Teresa Victor1, Hideo Suzuki1, Kent Teague2, Brent McKinney3, Patrick Bellgowan1,4, Jonathan Savitz1,4, Wayne Drevets1,5, and Jerzy Bodurka1,6
1Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, OK, United States, 2Dept. of Surgery, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, OK, United States,3Dept. of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, University of Tulsa, OK, United States, 4Dept. of Medicine, Tulsa School of Community Medicine, University of Tulsa, OK, United States, 5Janssen Pharmaceuticals, LLC, of Johnson & Johnson, Inc., Titusville, NJ, United States, 6College of Engineering, University of Oklahoma, OK, United States

 
Subtypes of nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activation for anticipation of gains and losses were identified for healthy and major depressive disorder (MDD) subjects. We used hierarchical clustering analysis to categorize NAcc activation patterns in individual subjects. Majority of subjects had typical NAcc activity; increased activity to gain and less active to loss. Hyper- and hypo-active subtypes were also found, which showed increase or decreased activity to both gains and losses. These hyper- and hypo-active types were seen in both healthy and MDD groups with the same percentage. In MDD subjects, however, subjects with the hypo-active NAcc had more severe depression symptoms.

 
13:42 0833.   Evaluation of brain complexity in psychiatric patients using fractal geometry
Letizia Squarcina1, Alberto De Luca2, Marcella Bellani1, Paolo Brambilla3,4, Federico E Turkheimer5, and Alessandra Bertoldo2
1Section of Psychiatry, AOUI Verona, Verona, VR, Italy, 2Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, Padova, PD, Italy, 3University of Udine, Udine, UD, Italy, 4Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX, United States, 5King's College London, London, United Kingdom

 
With this study, we used fractal geometry to analyze T1 data of patients affected by schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. We applied the box-count algorithm on segmented data and a modified, local version of it on non-segmented data, to compute fractal dimension both on the whole brain and in substructures. We found a marked difference on fractal dimension values in patients in respect to healthy controls. Fractal dimension is reduced in patients, with a visible effect especially in frontal lobe, which confirms previous findings of modification of this structures in these diseases.

 
13:54 0834.   Brain iron accumulation in first episode of mania
Vanessa Wiggermann1,2, Enedino Hernández Torres1,3, Leonardo E. da Silveira4, Lakshmi N. Yatham4, and Alexander Rauscher1,3
1Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,3UBC MRI Research Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 4Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

 
Many psychiatric disorders are suggested to relate to metabolite changes and oxidative stress, which may be associated with iron accumulation in the brain. Here, we used susceptibility-sensitive gradient echo imaging to compare MR resonance frequency shifts and R2* relaxation rates in the deep brain gray matter between first episode mania patients and healthy controls. We found significant increases in MR resonance frequency in the caudate and the globus pallidus and a significant reduction in the ventral striatum in patients compared to controls. However, we observed no differences in R2* values between patients and healthy controls.

 
14:06 0835.   
Quantitative T1rho Mapping of Bipolar Disorder: Basal Differences in Euthymia
Casey P. Johnson1, Robin L. Follmer2, Ipek Oguz3, Lois A. Warren2, Gary E. Christensen3, Jess G. Fiedorowicz2, Vincent A. Magnotta1,2, and John A. Wemmie2,4
1Radiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States, 2Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States, 3Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States, 4Veteran Affairs Hospital Center, Iowa City, IA, United States

 
We investigated the hypothesis that metabolism is abnormal in patients with bipolar disorder vs. normal controls using 3D quantitative T1ρ mapping. The T1ρ relaxation time has been shown to be sensitive to byproducts of metabolism including pH and metabolite concentrations. We observed that T1ρ is elevated in a euthymic case group, with evidence for a whole-brain difference as well as focal changes that exceed the global effect. This study furthers our understanding of bipolar disorder, identifies regions of interest to probe in future studies, and establishes T1ρ as a potential marker for abnormal metabolism in psychiatric diseases.

 
14:18 0836.   Identifying schizophrenia using whole-brain different imaging modalities via a multivariate pattern analysis
Wenjing Zhang1, Su Lui1, Wei Deng2, Yao Li1, Yuan Xiao1, and Qiyong Gong1
1Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 2Department of Psychiatry, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

 
A multivariate pattern analysis was used to characterize structural and functional pattern implicated in antipsychotic-naïve patients with schizophrenia. The discriminating potential of structural neuroanatomy, functional activity and the combination of the both were compared with one another, and finally we found the combination of the two imaging modalities yield a highest accuracy. On this condition, further application of this approach with the integration of different parameters, such as cognitive, neuropathological and genetic information may be of great help in understanding the condition.

 
14:30 0837.   Nodal centrality of the resting state functional network in the differentiation of schizophrenia using a support vector machine
Hu Cheng1, Sharlene Newman1, Jerillyn S. Kent1, Josselyn Howell1, Amanda Bolbecker1, Aina Puce1, Brian F. O'Donnell1, and William P. Hetrick1
1Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States

 
Resting state functional networks with 278 cortical and subcortical nodes were constructed on 19 schizophrenics and 29 normal controls. By computing the nodal centrality of the resting state functional network, we show that the two groups can be differentiated using support vector machine based on the order of centrality for a certain number of nodes. The performance of the differentiation is better for the nodes with higher centrality in comparison to the same number of nodes with lower centrality. This finding indicates that change of network hubs may be associated with schizophrenia.

 
14:42 0838.   
GABA and glutamate in schizophrenia: a 7T 1H-MRS study
Anouk Marsman1, Rene C.W. Mandl1, Dennis W.J. Klomp2, Marc M. Bohlken1, Vincent O. Boer2, Anna Andreychenko3, Wiepke Cahn1, Rene S. Kahn1, Peter R. Luijten2, and Hilleke E. Hulshoff Pol1
1Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, 2Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands,3Radiotherapy, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

 
Schizophrenia is characterized by a loss of brain tissue, which may represent an ongoing pathophysiological process. The GABAergic and glutamatergic systems may be involved. Performing 1H-MRS at an ultra-high magnetic field strength of 7T results in increased sensitivity and spectral resolution, which is particularly important when measuring glutamate and GABA. We conducted a 7T 1H-MRS study to examine differences in GABA and glutamate levels between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Prefrontal GABA/Cr ratios in patients were significantly lower as compared to controls. Moreover, prefrontal GABA/Cr ratios in patients were strongly associated with their level of general cognitive functioning.

 
14:54 0839.   
Genetic association with prefrontal glutathione deficit: a preliminary 3T 1H MRS study in early psychosis
Lijing Xin1,2, Ralf Mekle3, Carina Ferrari1,4, Philipp S. Baumann1,4, Luis Alameda1,4, Helene Moser1, Margot Fournier1,4, Huanxiang Lu5, Philippe Conus4,6, Rolf Gruetter2,7, and Kim Do1,4
1Unit for Research in Schizophrenia, Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland, 2Laboratory of Functional and Metabolic Imaging, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland, 3Medical Physics, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Berlin, Germany, 4National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) “SYNAPSY - The Synaptic Bases of Mental Diseases”, Lausanne, Switzerland, 5Institute of Surgical Technology and Biomechanics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, 6Service of General Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland, 7Departments of Radiology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

 
Impairment of glutathione (GSH) metabolism has been reported in schizophrenia patients. Moreover, the GAG trinucleotide repeat (TNR) polymorphisms in the gene coding for the catalytic (GCLC) subunit of the glutamate-cysteine ligase (GCL), the rate-limiting enzyme for GSH synthesis, are associated with schizophrenia in case-control studies. The present study measured GSH levels in the medial prefrontal cortex of patients in early phase of psychosis and controls using short TE MRS at 3T and showed for the first time that the GAG-TNR high-risk genotype of the GCLC gene predicts lower prefrontal GSH levels in vivo.

 
15:06 0840.   
A blunted response to dextro-amphetamine in recreational dextro-amphetamine users assessed using [123I]IBZM SPECT and pCASL based phMRI.
Anouk Schrantee1, Lena Vaclavu1, Dennis F R Heijtel1, Matthan W A Caan1, Jan Booij1, Aart J Nederveen1, and Liesbeth Reneman1
1Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands

 
In this study we compared acute dextro-amphetamine (dAMPH)-induced changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) as measured with a pCASL sequence between regular dAMPH users and healthy controls. In addition, dopamine release was measured using [123I]IBZM SPECT. DAMPH administration decreased gray matter CBF in both groups. However, dAMPH induced increases in striatal CBF in controls, whereas this effect was blunted in dAMPH users. Furthermore, dopamine release was blunted in users compared to controls as measured with SPECT. These findings suggest a dysfunctional dopamine system in dAMPH users and also highlights the potential of phMRI to assess changes in dopamine neurotransmitter function.

 
15:18 0841.   
Tinnitus is associated with hyperactivity in the frontal lobe and reduced activity in the auditory cortex
Binu P Thomas1,2, Kamakshi Gopal3, Mira D'Souza3, Deng Mao1, and Hanzhang Lu1
1Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States, 2Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center/University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, United States, 3Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, United States

 
Tinnitus is a condition that causes perception of sound in the absence of an auditory stimulus. Millions of people are affected by this and yet the pathophysiology is not well understood. Current consensus is that tinnitus originates in the brain, so we measured biomarkers of brain function using MRI. We found that when tinnitus patients heard tones, at the same frequency as their tinnitus, their brain showed hyper-activations in the frontal lobe compared to controls. Resting cerebral blood flow was lower in the tinnitus patients in the auditory cortex, indicating abnormal function. Thus, tinnitus patient’s brains are hyper-attentive to sound, while their auditory cortex showed diminished function.