Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment of Schizophrenia
A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2024 | Viewed by 718
Special Issue Editor
2. Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France
3. Schizophrenia and Autism Expert Centers, Alpes Isere Hospital, Grenoble, France
Interests: childhood schizophrenia; autism; stress response; neurodevelopmental disorders; anorexia nervosa
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Complex and chronic schizophrenia and schizophrenia spectrum disorders are present worldwide in all cultures. According to the WHO, it is one of the 10 most disabling diseases. However, giving a diagnosis is never easy for the subject, the families and sometimes even the teams, particularly with early-onset schizophrenia. Moreover, many unknows remain in this pathological spectrum regarding its limits and borders. Finding new markers and more precise clues to make progress in diagnosis and care, has been one of the challenges of recent years in terms of research. In this Special Issue, we welcome authors to submit their papers on the clinical and paraclinical (biological, imaging) advances that will help us to better understand schizophrenia spectrum disorders and early-onset schizophrenia in order to improve care.
Dr. Nathalie Coulon
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- schizophrenia
- early-onset schizophrenia
- very early-onset schizophrenia
- diagnosis
- care
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Specifically altered basal ganglia structures in Very-Early Onset Schizophrenia compared with Autism and Typical development
Authors: Nathalie Coulon
Affiliation: Schizophrenia Expert Center with Psychosocial Rehabilitation Reference Center, Alpes Isère Hospital (Saint-Egrève Psychiatric Hospital, 38 120 Saint-Egrève), 38 000 Grenoble, France
Abstract: Abstract: Objective: Very Early Onset Schizophrenia (VEOS) is a rare subtype of schizophrenia with an onset before 13. Differential diagnosis with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is challenging because of a known overlap between prodromal phase signs and social interaction disorders, autistic behaviorsin VEOS. Although the search for biomarkers related to VEOS progressed in the recent years, the specificity of the brain anomalies observed, in particular in relation to ASD, remains unknown. This MRI study aims at identifyingthe specific brain abnormalities related to VEOS in comparison with ASD and typically-developed controls (TDC). Methods: 44 subjects underwent an MRI scan: 14 VEOS (13.43+/-1.53 years), 15 ASD (13.67+/-2.13 years) and 15 TDC (13.63+/-1.8 years). We conducted two separate analyses: 1) a region of interest (ROI) analysis focusing on basal ganglia, anterior cingulate cortex and insular cortex, previously found to be relevant for VEOS and 2) a whole brain exploratory analysis using Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM). Results: ROI analysis revealed bilateral reduction of nucleus accumbens and putamen volumes, as well as higher volume of the left thalamus in subjects with VEOS in comparison with both ASD and TDC. Right caudate and pallidum were also larger in VEOS vs. ASD. VBM results showed significant atrophy of the putamen for both VEOS vs. ASD and VEOS vs. TDC. In addition, we found decreased gray matter volume in the right cuneus, the right insula and the left precentral gyrus in VEOS vs. TDC, aswell as in bilateral cunei, bilateral medial temporal lobes in VEOS vs. ASD. We did not find any significant neuroanatomical difference between ASD and TDC. Conclusion: We used two analyses methods to identify specific structural brain abnormalities in patients with VEOS. Neuroanatomic structures found as altered are involved in schizophrenia physiopathology and not so much in autism. Basal ganglia volumes could be potential specific biomarkers of VEOS. Prospective studies on VEOS might help to better understand the dynamics of basal ganglia development in VEOS.
Keywords: Brain MRI; Very Early Onset Schizophrenia; Autism spectrum disorder; Voxel-Based Morphometry; basal ganglia
