OBJECTIVES: It has been shown that early intervention is crucial for favorable outcome in patients with schizophrenia. However, development of biomarkers for predicting prognosis of psychotic disorder still requires more research. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether baseline mismatch negativity (MMN) predict prognosis in patients with first episode psychosis (FEP). METHODS: Twenty-four patients with FEP and matched healthy controls (HCs) were examined with MMN at baseline, and their clinical status were re-assessed after 1 year. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was performed to compare baseline MMN between the two groups. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors predicting prognosis in FEP patients during the follow-up period. RESULTS: MMN amplitudes at baseline were significantly reduced in patients with FEP compared to healthy controls. In the multiple regression analysis, baseline MMN amplitude significantly predicted later improvement of performances on digit span and delayed recall of California Verbal Learning Test. However, baseline MMN did not predicted improvement of clinical symptoms. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that MMN may be a possible predictor of improvement in cognitive functioning in patients with FEP. Future study with larger sample and longer follow-up period would be needed to confirm the findings of the current study.
Biomarkers ; California ; Cognition ; Early Intervention (Education) ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Polytetrafluoroethylene ; Prognosis* ; Psychotic Disorders* ; Schizophrenia ; Verbal Learning

Objectives: The early growth response 3 (EGR3) gene located in chromosome 8p21.3 is one of the susceptibility loci in many psychiatric disorders. EGR3 gene plays critical roles in signal transduction in the brain, which is involved in neuronal plasticity, neuronal development, learning, memory, and circadian rhythms. Recent studies have suggested EGR3 as a potential susceptibility gene for bipolar disorder (BPD). However, this requires further replication with an independent sample set. Methods: To investigate the genetic role of EGR3 in Korean patients, we genotyped six single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the chromosome region of EGR3 in 1076 Korean BPD patients and 773 healthy control subjects. Results: Among the six examined SNPs of EGR3 (rs17088531, rs1996147, rs3750192, rs35201266, rs7009708, rs1008949), SNP rs35201266, rs7009708, rs1008949 showed a significant association with BPD (p = 0.0041 for rs35201266 and BPD2, p = 0.0074 for rs1008949 and BPD, p = 0.0052 for rs1008949 and BPD1), which withstand multiple testing correction. In addition, the ‘G-C-C-C’ and ‘G-C-G-C’ haplotypes of EGR3 were overrepresented in the patients with BPD (p = 0.0055, < 0.0001, respectively) and the ‘G-T-G-C’ haplotype of EGR3 was underrepresented in patients with BPD (p = 0.0040). Conclusions In summary, our study supports the association of EGR3 with BPD in Korean population sample, and EGR3 could be suggested as a compelling susceptibility gene in BPD.

Objective: Spatial normalization is an essential process for comparative analyses that heavily depends on the standard brain template used. Brain morphological differences are observed in different populations due to genetic and environmental factors, causing mismatches in regions when the data are normalized to different population templates. Recent studies have indicated differences between Caucasian and East Asian populations as well as within East Asian populations, suggesting the necessity of population-specific brain templates. Thus, this study aimed to construct a Korean young adult age-specific brain template utilizing an advanced method of template construction to update the currently available Korean template. Methods: The KOR152 template was constructed via affine and nonlinear iterative procedures based on prior studies. We compared the morphological features of different population templates (MNI152, Indian_157, and CN200). The distance and volumetric changes before and after registering the data to these templates were calculated for registration accuracy. Results: The KOR152 global brain features revealed a shorter overall length than the other population templates. The registration accuracy by distance and volumetric change was significantly lower than that of the other population templates, implying that the KOR152 was more accurate than other templates for the young adult Korean population. Conclusion This study provided evidence for the need for a population-specific template that may be more appropriate for structural and functional studies in Korean populations.

Objective: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric condition that causes significant distress and social costs and often follows a chronic course with frequent relapses. Approximately 20% of patients do not respond to medication or cognitive behavioral therapy; gamma knife surgery (GKS) has been proposed as a treatment option for these patients. However, research on GKS for OCD patients is rare. Methods: In this study, 10 patients with treatment-resistant OCD underwent GKS, and the treatment response and side effects were assessed. The improvement in patients’ obsessive-compulsive symptoms was evaluated using the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) scores following GKS. Additionally, the characteristics distinguishing the groups with favorable responses to GKS from those with less favorable responses were examined. Results: GKS was well tolerated, and patients demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in YBOCS scores before and after GKS (p=0.016). Patients that responded to GKS exhibited distinct characteristics from those who did not respond. Patients who responded poorly tended to present an earlier age of onset, a longer duration of illness, more frequent hospitalizations, poorer social functioning, and a greater incidence of suicide attempts/thoughts. Conclusion This study not only demonstrated that GKS is a safe and effective treatment method for intractable OCD but also revealed characteristics distinguishing patients who respond well to GKS from those who do not. These results may aid in the selection of patients for future application of GKS.