The relationships between obstetric complications, brain morphology, and neuropsychological functions in the offspring at high risk of schizophrenia

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We compared the rate of obstetric complications (OCs), which have been established as a risk factor for schizophrenia in prior epidemiological studies, between the non-ill offspring of either parent with the disorder (i.e., high risk individuals) and normal control subjects. As a result, we found a higher rate of OCs in the high risk group than in the control group. In particular, the finding that the offspring of fathers with the condition similarly showed an elevated rate of OCs indicates that gene(s) transmitted from fathers to the offspring may play a role in predisposing the offspring to experiencing the events of OCs. We are still recruiting high risk individuals ; however, we realized that it is difficult to obtain consent from the non-ill subjects for participation into the study, in which detailed interview to obtain background information, MRI scanning, and neuropsychological assessments are required. Although data have been vigorously collected, a few more years are needed for recruitment to proceed to perform proper statistical analysis with adequate statistical power.To address the relationships between the genetic liability and MRI and neuropsychological variables, we focused on individuals who developed the condition early in life, i.e., with an age of onset less than 16 years, who are deemed to be more homogeneous and more genetically determined than adult-onset persons. When compared to normal controls, early onset (EOS) individuals showed significantly reduced gray matter volume ; in effect, an about 6% reduction was found. When the relationship between executive function as assessed by Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and brain morphological data using voxel-based morphometry with SPM99 within the patient group, volumes in the left temporal lobe were found to be negatively correlated with the perseverative error scores, indicating that the severer the executive function, the greater the reduction in the temporal lobe volume.