Differential cortical thinning of auditory cortex in first episode schizophrenia: association with auditory verbal hallucinations

Abstract

Background. Patients with chronic schizophrenia and persistent auditory verbal hallucination (AVH) are found to have reduced cortical thickness in auditory cortex. The role of cortical thickness in pathogenesis of AVH among first episode treatment responsive patients is not clear yet. We compared the cortical thickness of auditory cortex in first episode schizophrenia patients with and without AVH in this study. Method. We measured the cortical thicknesses of 34 right-handed patients (17 AVH+, 17 AVH–) using T1-weighted MPRAGE structural MRI images and compared them after propensity score matching. Results. AVH+ group had significantly lower cortical thickness in left superior temporal sulcus than AVH– group. The left superior temporal sulcus cortical thickness was negatively associated with auditory hallucinations score. Conclusions. Our finding of decreased cortical thickness in the left superior temporal sulcus provides further evidence about the involvement of auditory cortex in the pathogenesis of AVH in schizophrenia.