Schizotypy As a Framework for Dimensional Psychiatry
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NEUROBIOLOGY OF SCHIZOTYPAL PHENOTYPES Schizotypy as a framework for dimensional psychiatry INAUGURAL-DISSERTATION Dipl.-Psych. Tina Meller Marburg, 2019 Aus der Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie Geschäftsführender Direktor: Prof. Dr. Tilo Kircher des Fachbereichs Medizin der Philipps-Universität Marburg NEUROBIOLOGY OF SCHIZOTYPAL PHENOTYPES Schizotypy as a framework for dimensional psychiatry INAUGURAL-DISSERTATION zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Naturwissenschaften dem Fachbereich Medizin der Philipps-Universität Marburg vorgelegt von Dipl.-Psych. Tina Meller aus Ingolstadt Marburg, 2019 angenommen vom Fachbereich Medizin der Philipps-Universität Marburg am: 03.12.2019 gedruckt mit Genehmigung des Fachbereichs Medizin Dekan: Prof. Dr. Helmut Schäfer Referent: Prof. Dr. Igor Nenadić 1. Korreferent: Prof. Dr. Lars Timmermann To acknowledging diversity and dimensions. In science, and in general. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS .................................................................................................. 1 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 2 1.1. Schizotypy as a dimensional risk phenotype: a rationale .......................... 2 1.2. Genetic and neuronal networks of schizotypy ........................................... 3 1.3. Aims and hypotheses ................................................................................ 7 2. AGGREGATION OF STUDY RESULTS ................................................................. 8 2.1. STUDY I: Schizotypy shows sex-dependent associations with risk genes ZNF804A and CACNA1C and altered attention .................................................. 8 2.2. STUDY II: Intelligence moderates the association between positive schizotypy and striatal structure in healthy individuals ........................................ 9 2.3. STUDY III: Psychotic-like, distress-based symptoms are associated with structural variation in brain areas impaired in schizophrenia ............................. 11 2.4. STUDY IV: Polygenic risk for schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder is not associated with schizotypy in non-clinical adults ....................... 13 2.5. STUDY V: An explanatory model: Genes and environment have an interactive impact on schizotypy through changes in brain structure ................ 14 3. GENERAL DISCUSSION .................................................................................. 16 3.1. Genetic basis of schizotypy ..................................................................... 16 3.2. Neural networks of schizotypy ................................................................. 18 3.3. Limitations and implications for future research ...................................... 19 3.4. Integration ............................................................................................... 20 4. REFERENCES................................................................................................ 22 SUMMARY .............................................................................................................. 31 ZUSAMMENFASSUNG ............................................................................................... 33 A. APPENDIX .................................................................................................... 35 I. STUDY I: Publication Meller et al. (2019a) ................................................... 36 II. STUDY II: Publication Meller et al. (2019b) ................................................... 46 III. STUDY III: Manuscript .................................................................................. 56 IV. STUDY IV: Manuscript .................................................................................. 78 V. STUDY V: Manuscript ................................................................................ 103 VI. MANUSCRIPT CONTRIBUTIONS ...................................................................... 123 VII. CURRICULUM VITAE .................................................................................... 124 VIII. VERZEICHNIS DER LEHRENDEN .................................................................... 126 IX. DANKSAGUNG ............................................................................................ 127 X. EHRENWÖRTLICHE ERKLÄRUNG................................................................... 128 LIST OF ACRONYMS DMN default mode network ERS environmental risk score GMV grey matter volume GWAS genome-wide associations study GxE gene by environment ITG inferior temporal gyrus IQ intelligence quotient PC precuneus PCC posterior cingulate cortex PLEs psychotic-like experiences PRS polygenic risk score SBM surface-based morphometry SCL90-R symptom checklist 90 – revised SNP single nucleotide polymorphism SNS schizophrenia nuclear signs SPQ schizotypal personality questionnaire SPQ-B schizotypal personality questionnaire - brief STS schizotypal signs VBM voxel-based morphometry 1 1. INTRODUCTION The development of pathological functions in a system is quite consistent with its usual performance of normal function. W.B. Cannon, 1953 1.1. Schizotypy as a dimensional risk phenotype: a rationale Schizotypy describes a complex multimodal phenotype in humans, comprising of trait characteristics resembling key features of psychotic disorders across emotional, behavioural and cognitive dimensions. Those are generally grouped into the three facets positive (magical thinking, unusual experiences, beliefs and perceptions), negative (introversion, anhedonia, diminished positive affect and reward) and disorganised/cognitive (eccentricity, cognitive disorganisation). The term schizotypy was originally coined by Rado (1953), abbreviating “schizophrenic phenotype”, to describe subclinical levels of schizophrenic symptoms preceding the disorder, but also stable conditions, not leading into clinical states. Schizotypy is distributed in the general population and thought to represent both an underlying liability to the schizophrenia spectrum (particularly negative and disorganised facets) or “psychosis proneness” (positive facet), and variation of healthy function (Claridge 1997; Kwapil & Barrantes-Vidal 2015). This view is explicated by the continuum model of the psychosis spectrum, assuming a normal distribution of schizotypy, with spectrum disorders at the extreme end (Claridge 1997). Thus, it can also account for schizotypy being associated with beneficial characteristics like enhanced creativity, visual imagery, and personality correlates (Mohr & Claridge 2015; Baas et al. 2016). Determining the position on an underlying dimension of adaptive to maladaptive manifestations, protective conditions/resilience mechanisms are thought to play an important role, as shown for e.g. intelligence (Brod 1997; Grant et al. 2014a). There are different approaches to characterising risk phenotypes in the subclinical psychosis spectrum. Schizotypy as a stable personality construct can be distinguished from the (usually) transient expression of psychotic experiences in the absence of the clinical disorder (“psychotic-like experiences”, PLEs, van Os et al. 2009) and the set of clinical features and risk factors 2 constituting clinical high risk (CHR) status (Schultze-Lutter et al. 2015). PLEs, e.g. hallucinations or delusions, are conceptually closest to the positive facet, and also discussed as expression of positive schizotypy (Barrantes-Vidal et al. 2015). CHR status includes attenuated and psychotic symptoms and indications of cognitive deficits, associated with positive and negative facets of schizotypy (Gooding et al. 2005; Flückiger et al. 2019). The concepts show phenotypic overlap and are not orthogonal, as has been shown for schizotypy and PLEs (Debbané et al. 2015), and schizotypy and high risk (Flückiger et al. 2019). Partially shared genetic and neurobiological correlates among the constructs (Linscott & van Os 2013; Ettinger et al. 2014) further support the idea of a dimensional psychosis continuum. Continuous, complex phenotypes generally constitute a valuable framework for the study of fundamental neurobiological mechanisms of both psychiatric disorders and interindividual differences. Allowing the analysis of aetiological mechanisms in the absence of confounding factors (e.g. illness progression, medication effects), they surpass animal models in illustrating complex, psychological constructs. Facilitating the deconstruction of psychiatric entities (Gottesman & Gould 2003), they also enable the consideration of resilience factors, preventing conversion into clinical spectra. Within the subclinical psychosis spectrum, schizotypy is best suited as model-phenotype due to its relative temporal stability (opposed to PLEs), and its differentiation into continuous domains (opposed to risk/no risk state). Similarly, current constructs of psychopathology describe psychiatric phenomena as dimensional continua, from healthy variation to clinical relevance (Cuthbert 2014; Kotov et al. 2017). Schizotypy thus not only plays a significant role in the study of genetic and neurobiological mechanisms of the schizophrenia spectrum (Barrantes-Vidal et al. 2015), but also provides a general framework for a dimensional and translational approach to psychiatric research, and the study of pathways from health to dysfunction. 1.2. Genetic and neuronal networks of schizotypy The genetic and neuronal architectures of schizotypy have also increasingly been viewed in the context of continuum