Amygdalar volume and violent ideation in a sample at clinical high-risk for psychosis

Abstract We previously demonstrated that violent ideation predicts both violent acts and eventual progression to syndromal psychosis in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR). We performed amygdalar surface morphometry analysis on MRI scans from 70 CHR individuals, 21 of whom had violent ideation, 49 of whom did not. CHR individuals with violent ideation have abnormal and asymmetric amygdalar volumes. These data suggest some commonalities in the genesis of violence and aggression among clinical populations, as well as that there may be specific neurobiological links between violence and psychosis.