Fig. 2: Comparison of MRI brain region volumes between improved and non-improved groups.

Whole-brain tissue volumes (left panel: gray matter [GM], white matter [WM], and cerebrospinal fluid [CSF]) and regional subcortical gray matter volumes (right panel) are shown for the improved (pink) and non-improved (blue) groups. The dashed horizontal line indicates the average value in age-matched controls from the Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample³¹. Volumes are expressed as z-scores relative to the control mean. Analyses included patients with available T1-weighted MRI (n = 8 improved; n = 18 non-improved). Box plots show the median (thick line), interquartile range (IQR; 25th–75th percentile), and whiskers extending to 1.5× IQR. Individual patient values are overlaid as jittered dots. Statistical comparisons between groups were performed using two-sided, non-parametric, permutation-based t-tests (10,000 permutations). Four regions showed significantly greater volume in the improved group compared to the non-improved group (*p < 0.05, uncorrected): GM: t(24) = 2.14, p = 0.04, Hedges’ g = 0.9, 95% CI = [0.14, 1.8]; Putamen: t(24) = 2.7, p = 0.01, Hedges’ g = 1.1, 95% CI = [0.6, 1.8]; Caudate: t(24) = 2.3, p = 0.03, Hedges’ g = 0.9, 95% CI = [0.4, 1.5]; Cerebellum: t(24) = 2.6, p = 0.01, Hedges’ g = 1.1, 95% CI = [0.5, 1.8]. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. CSF Cerebrospinal fluid, GM Gray matter, WM White matter, Ventral DC Ventral diencephalon.