Paul Metzak1, Signe Bray1, Glenda MacQueen1; 1University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Although the onset of serious mental illness (SMI) primarily occurs in youth, there have been few studies examining the neurobiological correlates of SMI prior to a formal diagnosis. In the PROCAN study we have employed McGorry and Hickie’s clinical staging model as the basis for assessing changes in brain activity in youth at risk for SMI. As SMI is a broad category encompassing multiple discrete illnesses, the functional MRI tasks that we have selected activate multiple brain networks that are known to be impacted in psychiatric illness. The three tasks selected were: 1) a monetary incentive delay task, which targets reward networks, 2) an N-back working memory task, which targets cognitive control and dorsal attention networks, and 3) an emotional Go-NoGo task, which targets emotional and inhibitory control networks. Participants also underwent a resting state scan, which enables a task free assessment of multiple brain networks. Each participant performs these tasks upon recruitment, twelve months after recruitment, and upon conversion to a diagnosable SMI. Preliminary results from the Anhedonia task indicate that symptomatic participants display differences in basal ganglia activity relative to healthy volunteers and those at familial high risk.
