The considerable individual heterogeneity in regions, circuits and networks that characterizes people with mental illness is often ignored in classic case-control research.
That's why a team of researchers led by Prof. Alex Fornito of Monash University in Australia analyzed magnetic resonance images (MRIs) and examined the connectivity of patients' gray matter brain areas. The researchers examined differences in gray matter volume in 1,294 individuals diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia, as well as 1,465 controls.

The researchers found large heterogeneous, person-specific variations. "Understanding the diversity of brain changes in people with mental illness at different levels, from single regions to more widespread brain circuits and networks, provides deeper insight into how the brain is affected in individuals," said Prof. Fornito in a current press release about the research findings.

While the researchers consider methods useful for characterizing the overlap of circuits and networks in different individuals. However, they were not suitable for analyzing individual differences in behavior. Therefore, further patient research is necessary. The task for future work is to accurately characterize the relationship between deviations in gray matter volume and interindividual differences in symptom expression. A more comprehensive understanding of patient-specific brain changes and their network context is needed to develop effective and individually tailored interventions.

The work was published in Nature Neurioscience:
Segal, A., Parkes, L., Aquino, K. et al. Regional, circuit and network heterogeneity of brain abnormalities in psychiatric disorders. Nat Neurosci (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-023-01404-6

More information:
https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/new-maps-reveal-the-individual-brain-changes-linked-to-different-mental-illnesses