Shared and separate patterns in brain morphometry across transdiagnostic dimensions

Abstract

Determining similarities and differences in brain structure across psychiatric disorders is important to determine if psychiatric taxonomy is reflected in distinct brain structural changes. As previous neuroimaging meta-analyses have typically focused on a single disorder, precluding transdiagnostic comparisons, we aimed to quantify patterns of similarity and differences between psychiatric disorders in terms of regional brain volumes. Here we show, in network and pairwise meta-analyses of 498 studies (51,227 individuals, 17 psychiatric disorders and 17 brain regions), that psychiatric disorders show both distinct and overlapping patterns of brain volume gain and loss. A principal components analysis demonstrated that the first principal component could account for 48% of variance and corresponded to a pattern of increased basal ganglia and decreased hippocampal and amygdala volumes. This component loaded most strongly for disorders on the psychosis spectrum, and most weakly for affective disorders. Our findings illustrated that, while similar volumetric alterations are frequently shared between disorders, neuroanatomical patterns also appear related to clinically meaningful categories. (PROSPERO Registration: CRD42020221143.)