Definitive findings
Commenting on the findings for an interview, Russell Margolis, MD, clinical director, Johns Hopkins Schizophrenia Center, said that “it’s not so much that the findings are novel but rather that they’re fairly definitive in that this is by far the largest study of its kind looking at this particular question, and that gives it power. The problem with imaging studies has often been inconsistent results from study to study because of small sample size.”
“In order to see these differences in a robust way, you need a large sample size, meaning that for any one individual, this kind of structural imaging is not going to add much to the prediction of whether someone will eventually develop a schizophrenia-like illness,” said Dr. Margolis, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
From a clinical standpoint,
“The predominant hypothesis in the field is that early developmental abnormalities are the root cause of schizophrenia and related disorders, and this study is consistent with that, particularly the age-related differences, which are suggestive of neurodevelopmental abnormalities preceding the development of overt symptoms, which many other findings have also suggested,” Dr. Margolis said.
“Abnormalities in cortical thickness could be from a number of different neurobiological processes, and research into those processes are worth investigating,” he added.
The researchers received support from numerous funders, all of which are listed in the original article, along with author disclosures for ENIGMA working group members. Dr. Margolis has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.