Premium
Functional imaging in youth at risk for transdiagnostic serious mental illness: Initial results from the PROCAN study
Author(s) -
Metzak Paul D.,
Addington Jean,
Hassel Stefanie,
Goldstein Benjamin I.,
MacIntosh Bradley J.,
Lebel Catherine,
Wang Jian Li,
Kennedy Sidney H.,
MacQueen Glenda M.,
Bray Signe
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
early intervention in psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.087
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1751-7893
pISSN - 1751-7885
DOI - 10.1111/eip.13078
Subject(s) - asymptomatic , mental illness , functional magnetic resonance imaging , psychology , neuroimaging , brain activity and meditation , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine , neuroscience , mental health , electroencephalography
Background In their early stages, serious mental illnesses (SMIs) are often indistinguishable from one another, suggesting that studying alterations in brain activity in a transdiagnostic fashion could help to understand the neurophysiological origins of different SMI. The purpose of this study was to examine brain activity in youth at varying stages of risk for SMI using functional magnetic resonance imaging tasks (fMRI) that engage brain systems believed to be affected. Methods Two hundred and forty three participants at different stages of risk for SMI were recruited to the Canadian Psychiatric Risk and Outcome (PROCAN) study, however only 179 were scanned. Stages included asymptomatic participants at no elevated risk, asymptomatic participants at elevated risk due to family history, participants with undifferentiated general symptoms of mental illness, and those experiencing attenuated versions of diagnosable psychiatric illnesses. The fMRI tasks included: (1) a monetary incentive delay task; (2) an emotional Go‐NoGo and (3) an n ‐back working memory task. Results Strong main effects with each of the tasks were found in brain regions previously described in the literature. However, there were no significant differences in brain activity between any of the stages of risk for SMI for any of the task contrasts, after accounting for site, sex and age. Furthermore, results indicated no significant differences even when participants were dichotomized as asymptomatic or symptomatic. Conclusions These results suggest that univariate BOLD responses during typical fMRI tasks are not sensitive markers of SMI risk and that further study, particularly longitudinal designs, will be necessary to understand brain changes underlying the early stages of SMI.