Dataset Information

Associations between Brain Structural Alterations, Executive Dysfunction, and General Psychopathology in a Healthy and Cross-Diagnostic Adult Patient Sample.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A general psychopathology 'p' factor captures shared variance across mental disorders in diverse samples and may partly reflect executive dysfunction. Higher p factor scores have been related to structural alterations within the visual association cortex (VAC) and a cerebello-thalamo-cerebrocortical circuit (CTCC), both of which are important for executive control. Here, we tested replicability of these direct associations as well as the indirect role of executive functioning in a sample of healthy and cross-diagnostic adult patients.

Methods

We conducted hypothesis-driven (i.e., region-of-interest) and exploratory whole-brain structural neuroimaging analyses using data from the Consortium for Neuropsychiatric Phenomics study of 272 adults who met diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder or were healthy controls. Using structural equation modeling, we examined direct and indirect relations between structural neural alterations (within regions-of-interest and regions identified from exploratory analyses) and p and executive function factors.

Results

Higher levels of p were associated with decreased executive functioning and VAC grey matter volume, replicating previous research. In contrast, we failed to replicate prior negative relations between the p factor and CTCC structure. A significant indirect relation between VAC grey matter volume and p via executive function also emerged. Whole-brain analyses identified additional structural alterations in supplementary motor area/cingulate cortex, anterior corona radiata, and corpus callosum genu related to the p factor.

Conclusions

Executive dysfunction may be one mechanism underlying relations between brain structure and general psychopathology. Replication of VAC structural alterations related to p encourages further focus on this brain structure.

SUBMITTER: Romer AL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8896812 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Associations between Brain Structural Alterations, Executive Dysfunction, and General Psychopathology in a Healthy and Cross-Diagnostic Adult Patient Sample.

Romer Adrienne L AL Pizzagalli Diego A DA

Biological psychiatry global open science 20210612 1

<h4>Background</h4>A general psychopathology '<i>p</i>' factor captures shared variance across mental disorders in diverse samples and may partly reflect executive dysfunction. Higher <i>p</i> factor scores have been related to structural alterations within the visual association cortex (VAC) and a cerebello-thalamo-cerebrocortical circuit (CTCC), both of which are important for executive control. Here, we tested replicability of these direct associations as well as the indirect role of executiv ...[more]

PMID: 35252949

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Dataset Information

Associations between Brain Structural Alterations, Executive Dysfunction, and General Psychopathology in a Healthy and Cross-Diagnostic Adult Patient Sample.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Associations between Brain Structural Alterations, Executive Dysfunction, and General Psychopathology in a Healthy and Cross-Diagnostic Adult Patient Sample.

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