Journal: Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences.

Title: Maternal cerebellar gray matter volume is associated with daughters’ psychotic experience

Running Title: Maternal cerebellum predict daughter PE

Authors: Naoki Hashimoto M.D., Ph.D.1, Timothy I. Michaels2,3,4, Roeland Hancock Ph.D.2,3, Ichiro Kusumi M.D., Ph.D.1, and Fumiko Hoeft M.D., Ph.D.2,3,4,5

Abstract:

Aim. A substantial portion of children and adolescents show sub-threshold psychotic symptoms called psychotic experience (PE). Because PE shares its biological and environmental risk factors with psychotic spectrum disorders, we would like to examine that parental neuroanatomical variation as a heritable biological underpinning of PE would predict offspring’s PE.

Methods. In a total of 94 participants from 35 families without a diagnosis of major neuropsychiatric disorders, we examined 14 mother-daughter, 17 mother-son, 12 father-daughter and 16 father-son dyads. Offspring’s PE was assessed by the atypicality subscale of the Behavioral Assessment System for Children-2nd Edition, Self-Report of Personality form (BASCaty). We examined correlations between voxel-by-voxel parental gray matter volume and their offspring’s BASCaty score. 

Results. Maternal cerebellar gray matter volume using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was positively correlated with their daughters’ BASCaty. The findings were significant in a more robust approach using cerebellum-specific normalization known as SUIT. We did not find significant correlation between paternal brain and their offspring’s BASCaty or offspring’s brain and their own BASCaty.

Conclusions. Expanding upon parent-of-origin effects in psychosis, maternal neuroanatomical variation was associated with daughters’ PE. The nature of this sex-specific intergenerational effect is unknown, but maternally transmitted genes may relate both cerebellum development and PE.