85. Diffusion Imaging of White Matter Pathways in Schizophrenia: Are Illness-Linked Changes Progressive?

Background: The presence of altered white matter microstructure in disorders involving psychosis is well established, but the nature and developmental course of these changes are not well understood (Peters & Karlsgodt, 2015). It is not clear whether the presence of attenuated frontal white matter anisotropy at any phase of illness indexes a pathophysiological change that occurs only within the prodromal and/or first episode phases, or whether early white matter changes are part of a lifespan trajectory of accelerated white matter degeneration in patients (Schwehm et al., 2016; Wright et al., 2014). It also remains to be determined whether schizophrenia-linked anisotropy changes are the result of axon damage or if they also reflect organizational changes.