Orbitofrontal sulcogyral patterns are related to temperamental risk for psychopathology

Abstract

There are marked individual differences in the pattern of cortical (sulcogyral) folding in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and there is a growing literature suggesting that these individual differences are associated with risk for psychotic disorders. To date, however, no study has investigated whether OFC folding patterns are associated with broader risk factors relevant to a range of psychopathology. This study helps address this knowledge gap by examining whether OFC sulcogyral folding patterns are associated with putative risk factors, specifically affective temperament and psychiatric symptoms, in a large community sample (N = 152) of adolescents. Results showed that the most common pattern of folding ('Type I', marked by discontinuity of the medial orbital sulcus and continuity of the lateral orbital sulcus) was associated with low levels of Surgency, high levels of Negative Affectivity (in girls) and higher depressive symptoms. This pattern was also associated with reduced thickness of OFC gray matter. Overall, the findings, combined with previous work, suggest some specificity of neurodevelopmental risk for different types of psychopathology. Thus, these results have the potential to inform the early identification of at-risk individuals.

Keywords: adolescence; gyrification; orbitofrontal cortex; risk; temperament.

Fig. 1

Example of each OFC sulcogyral type. To determine Type, sulci are first traced on coronal images (left panel) and then viewed on transverse images (right panel). Type I: rostral and caudal segments of the lateral orbital sulcus are continuous (dark blue); rostral (red) and caudal (magenta) medial orbital sulci are not connected. Type II: both medial (red) and lateral (dark blue) orbital sulci are continuous. Type III: for the medial orbital sulci, rostral (red) and caudal (magenta) segments are not connected; for the lateral orbital sulci, rostral (cyan) and caudal (dark blue) segments are also not connected. r = rostral, c = caudal, LOS = lateral orbital sulcus, MOS = medial orbital sulcus.

Fig. 2

Rendered T1-weighted MR image of the ventral anterior aspect of the left hemisphere of an example brain. Orbitofrontal regions for which gray matter thickness was extracted are shown. A = gyrus rectus; B = medial orbital sulcus; C = orbital-H shaped sulcus; D = orbital gyrus; E = lateral orbital sulcus (hidden behind orbital gyrus).