Ordinal reduction of frontotemporal sulcal asymmetry with increasing auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Asymmetry in paracingulate sulcus (PCS) length and superior temporal sulcus (STS) depth was examined in schizophrenia spectrum patients stratified by auditory verbal hallucination (AVH) frequency. An ordinal reduction in sulcal asymmetry was observed with increasing AVH frequency, reaching statistical significance only for STS depth. The decline in effect size from frequent to less frequent AVH may explain prior inconsistent findings from binary AVH classifications that disregard clinical heterogeneity.

Correspondence regarding data curation, imaging and statistical analyses, and manuscript content should be addressed to Shun-Chin Jim Wu and Graham K. Requests for data access should be directed to Pilar Salgado-Pineda, Edith Pomarol-Clotet, and Peter J. We thank the FIDMAG Research Foundation and all study participants.

This work would not have been possible without them. This research was supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR203312*) and the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration East of England. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

This work was supported by the CIBERSAM and the Catalonian Government, AGAUR (2017SGR01271 and 2021SGR01475 to EP-C). These authors contributed equally: Edith Pomarol-Clotet, Peter J. Murray Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Shun-Chin Jim Wu, Héloïse de Vareilles, John Suckling & Graham K.

Murray FIDMAG - Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation / CIBERSAM-ISCIII, Barcelona, Spain Pilar Salgado-Pineda, Lucila Barbosa, Joan Soler-Vidal, Pablo del Olmo-Encabo, Edith Pomarol-Clotet & Peter J. McKenna Hospital Nostra Senyora de Meritxell, Servei Andorrà d’Atenció Sanitària, Escaldes-Engordany, Andorra Departament de Psicologia Bàsica, Clínica i Psicobiologia, Universitat Jaume I, Castelló, Spain Radiology Department Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain Fundació Hospitalàries Sant Boi, Barcelona, Spain Fundació Hospitalàries Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Fundació Hospitalàries Barcelona Nord, Barcelona, Spain Fundació Hospitalàries Martorell, Barcelona, Spain Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Trust, Cambridgeshire, UK PF-C and PM have received fellowships from “la Caixa” Foundation (LCF/BQ/PR22/11920017 to PF-C and 100010434 to PM). EP-C and PM have received Research Project Grants (PI21/00416 to EP-C, PI18/00880 and PI14/01691 to PM).

GKM consults for ieso Digital Health. All other authors declare no conflicts of interest to disclose. Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.