- differences among these patient groups were not seen, but rather the gray matter differences were found when patient groups and controls were compared
- all patient groups were medicated (could have an impact on results)
- a sample of schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type was studied, but not a sample of schizoaffective disorder, unipolar type

University of Illinois at Chicago

A study of brain structural changes analyzed schizoaffective disorder, and how similar they are to those seen in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. A group of healthy control subjects was compared with each patient group and discovered that patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder had coinciding and widespread volume reduction in the brain. Other patients with bipolar disorder did not have these significant reductions in volume. Further analysis uncovered that patients with schizoaffective disorder tended to show a widespread area of gray matter reduction similar to the schizophrenia patient observations. Observed gray matter reductions were more extreme in patients with schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia than those with bipolar disorder. This suggests that schizoaffective disorder more closely resembles schizophrenia than bipolar disorder (in terms of structural gray matter brain imbalances and abnormalities).

Brain structural alterations in schizoaffective disorder compared to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Amann, B. L., Canales-Rodríguez, E. J., Madre, M., Radua, J., Monte, G., Alonso-Lana, S., Landin-Romero, R., Moreno-Alcázar, A., Bonnin, C. M., Sarró, S., Ortiz-Gil, J., Gomar, J. J., Moro, N., Fernandez-Corcuera, P., Goikolea, J. M., Blanch, J., Salvador, R., Vieta, E., McKenna, P. J., & Pomarol-Clotet, E. (2016, January). Brain structural changes in schizoaffective disorder compared to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5029760/ 

Brain structural changes in schizoaffective disorder compared to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Limitations of this study

Both patient groups with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder showed similar areas of volume reduction, while patients with bipolar disorder showed no areas of volume reduction when compared to healthy patients. None of the groups had a significant gray matter volume increase. The following image displays significant gray matter volume reduction in patients with schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia compared to the healthy patient group. The top panel (a) shows the reductions in volume in patients with schizophrenia, while the bottom panel (b) displays volume reductions in patients with schizoaffective disorder. 

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