Year: 2017
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous disorder. Demographic, clinical, neurobiological and methodological sources of heterogeneity have all likely impeded biomarker discovery. The objectives of this work were to use a ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approach respectively to begin to disentangle 1) the effect of sex on structural connectivity 2) and the effect of variable spatial organization of the brain on functional connectivity in schizophrenia. In study 1, larger differences in white matter diffusion-based measures between patients and controls were observed in females compared to males. One interpretation of this result is that female patients require a larger biological hit to manifest schizophrenia symptoms. In study 2, correcting for variability in the topography of the brain reduced or eliminated several functional connectivity differences between schizophrenia patients and controls. These findings provide new windows of understanding into the heterogeneity of brain structure and function in people with schizophrenia.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Shahab, Saba
Institution: University of Toronto
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3140661172