Morphology of the anterior cingulate cortex in young men at ultra-high risk of developing a psychotic illness

<jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is consistently implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, and our own work has identified morphological anomalies in the ACC of people with this disorder.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Aims</jats:title><jats:p>To examine whether ACC morphological anomalies are present in a group at ultra-high risk of psychosis and whether such anomalies can be used to predict the subsequent development of a psychotic illness.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Method</jats:title><jats:p>Magnetic resonance imaging of 75 healthy volunteers and 63 people at ultra-high risk of developing a psychotic disorder (all right-handed males) was used to examine ACC sulcal and gyral features.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Compared with the controls, significantly fewer people in the ultra-high risk group had a well-developed left paracingulate sulcus and significantly more had an interrupted left cingulate sulcus. There was no difference between those who did (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic>=21) and did not (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic>=42) subsequently develop a psychotic illness.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>Although ACC anomalies are present in young people considered to be at ultra-high risk of psychosis, they do not identify individuals who subsequently make the transition to psychosis.</jats:p></jats:sec>