Non-uniform structural development across human thalamus aligns with risk zones for schizophrenia in adulthood

Abstract

With dense axonal connectivity to every region of cortex, the thalamus plays a central role in the nervous system from sensory processing to cognitive functions. Yet how tissue maturation of the thalamus unfolds during childhood and contributes to typical or atypical development is not clear. Through several large datasets, we provide here a thalamic portrait of fine-scale structural development whose nuclei develop along unique trajectories, some of which diverge from predictions of developmental theory. We find that those thalamic nuclei which show the most protracted development are at the greatest risk for later clinical differences in schizophrenia. The spatial pattern across thalamic nuclei for early psychosis risk is associated with a unique neuroreceptor fingerprint with implications for symptom severity.