Browsing by Author "Garcia-Rizo, C."

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    Difficulties during delivery, brain ventricle enlargement and cognitive impairment in first episode psychosis
    (2023) Costas-Carrera, A.; Verdolini, N.; Garcia-Rizo, C.; Mezquida, G.; Janssen, J.; Valli, I.; Corripio, I.; Sanchez-Torres, A.M.; Bioque, M.; Lobo, A.; Gonzalez-Pinto, A.; Rapado-Castro, M.; Vieta, E.; De La Serna, H.; Mane, A.; Roldan, A.; Crossley Karmelic, Nicolas Andres; Penades, R.; Cuesta, M.J.; Parellada, M.; PEPs group
    Published by Cambridge University Press.Background Patients with a first episode of psychosis (FEP) display clinical, cognitive, and structural brain abnormalities at illness onset. Ventricular enlargement has been identified in schizophrenia since the initial development of neuroimaging techniques. Obstetric abnormalities have been associated with an increased risk of developing psychosis but also with cognitive impairment and brain structure abnormalities. Difficulties during delivery are associated with a higher risk of birth asphyxia leading to brain structural abnormalities, such as ventriculomegaly, which has been related to cognitive disturbances. Methods We examined differences in ventricular size between 142 FEP patients and 123 healthy control participants using magnetic resonance imaging. Obstetric complications were evaluated using the Lewis-Murray scale. We examined the impact of obstetric difficulties during delivery on ventricle size as well as the possible relationship between ventricle size and cognitive impairment in both groups. Results FEP patients displayed significantly larger third ventricle size compared with healthy controls. Third ventricle enlargement was associated with diagnosis (higher volume in patients), with difficulties during delivery (higher volume in subjects with difficulties), and was highest in patients with difficulties during delivery. Verbal memory was significantly associated with third ventricle to brain ratio. Conclusions Our results suggest that difficulties during delivery might be significant contributors to the ventricular enlargement historically described in schizophrenia. Thus, obstetric complications may contribute to the development of psychosis through changes in brain architecture.
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    Human development, inequality, and their associations with brain structure across 29 countries
    (Cambridge University Press, 2025) Medel, V.; Alliende, L.M.; Bethlehem, R.; Seidlitz, J.; Ringlein, G.; Arango, C.; Arnatkeviciute, A.; Asmal, L.; Bellgrove, M.; Benegal, V.; Bernardo, M.; Billeke, P.; Bosch-Bayard, J.; Bressan, R.; Busatto, G.; Castro, M.; Chaim-Avancini, T.; Costanzi, M.; Czepielewski, L.; Dazzan, P.; de la Fuente-Sandoval, C.; Diaz-Caneja, C.M.; Diaz-Zuluaga, A.M.; Plessis, S.D.; Duran, F.; Fittipaldi, S.; Fornito, A.; Freimer, N.; Gadelha, A.; Gama, C.; Garani, R.; Garcia-Rizo, C.; Campo, C.G.; Gonzalez-Valderrama, A.; Guinjoan, S.; Holla, B.; Ibanez, A.; Ivanovic, D.; Jackowski, A.; Leon-Ortiz, P.; Lochner, C.; Lopez-Jaramillo, C.; Luckhoff, H.; Massuda, R.; McGuire, P.; Miyata, J.; Mizrahi, R.; Murray, R.; Ozerdem, A.; Pan, P.; Parellada, M.; Phahladira, L.; Ramirez-Mahaluf, J.P.; Reckziegel, R.; Marques, T.R.; Reyes-Madrigal, F.; Roos, A.; Rosa, P.; Salum, G.; Scheffler, F.; Schumann, G.; Serpa, M.; Stein, D.J.; Tepper, A.; Tiego, J.; Ueno, T.; Undurraga, J.; Undurraga, Eduardo A.; Valdes-Sosa, P.; Valli, I.; Villarreal, M.; Winton-Brown, T.; Yalin, N.; Zamorano, F.; Zanetti, M.; Winkler, A.; Evans-Lacko, S.; Forti, M.D.; Crossley, N.A.
    © 2025 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.Background: The macro-social and environmental conditions in which people live, such as the level of a country’s development or inequality, are associated with brain-related disorders. However, the relationship between these systemic environmental factors and the brain remains unclear. We here aimed to determine the association between the level of development and inequality of a country and the brain structure of healthy adults. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study pooling brain imaging (T1-based) data from 145 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies in 7,962 healthy adults (4,110 women) in 29 different countries. We used a meta-regression approach to relate the brain structure with the country’s level of development and inequality. Results: Higher human development was consistently associated with larger hippocampi and more expanded global cortical surface area, particularly in frontal areas. Increased inequality was most consistently associated with smaller hippocampal volume and thinner cortical thickness across the brain. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the macro-economic conditions of a country are reflected in its inhabitants’ brains and may explain the different incidence of brain disorders across the world. The observed variability of brain structure in health across countries should be considered when developing tools in the field of personalized or precision medicine that are intended to be used across the world.