Donna Jane-Mai Lang1, Alex L. Mackay2, Eugene Yip, Nicole Fitchner, Cornelia Laule2, Bill MacEwan3, Lili C. Kopala3, William George Honer
1Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; 2Physics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 3Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
An investigation of fronto-striatal circuitry in psychosis was performed in a cohort of 78 minimally medicated first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients and 31 healthy volunteers. Single-slice myelin water imaging data were acquired using a 48-echo CPMG sequence., consisting of 90 slice selective pulse followed. The myelin water image slice was placed transversely to the slice parallel to the AC-PC line to optimize simultaneous visualization of frontal white matter, basal ganglia structures, thalamic nuclei and posterior white matter. FEP subjects had bilaterally reduced myelin water fraction values in in the genu compared to healthy volunteers. Results imply disconnectivity of the frontal lobes in FEP.