Katrina
McMullen1, Shannon Kolind1,2, Emma Barkus3,
Sean CL Deoni1
1Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences,
Institute of Psychiatry, London, England, United Kingdom; 2Centre
for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, Oxford University,
Oxford, England, United Kingdom; 3Department of Psychiatry,
University of Wollongong, NSW, New South Wales, Australia
Alterations
in region grey matter volume, white matter structure and brain function are
known associates schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. However, the underlying etiology of these
disorders, believed to represent a spectrum of psychosis proneness, remains
unknown. Increasingly, the role of
white matter connectivity, mediated by myelin, to these disorders is being
questioned. Here we report on a study
of myelin content in schizotypy, revealing a linear association between
schizotypy score and myelin water fraction, localized to the left hemisphere.
These results, consistent with prior fMRI results, are suggestive of altered
white matter efficiency and processing ability in high schizotypes.