Optical Coherence Tomography in Psychiatric Disorders
Summary
Optical coherence tomography has emerged as a robust non-invasive imaging modality that illuminates structural and microvascular alterations in the retina, offering a unique window into central nervous system integrity in psychiatric disorders. By capturing high-resolution cross-sectional images of retinal layers, OCT enables quantification of the retinal nerve fibre layer, macular thickness and ganglion cell complex. Complementary angiographic techniques allow assessment of microvascular density without the need for contrast agents. Research spanning schizophrenia spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder has consistently identified retinal thinning and vascular changes that correlate with illness duration, symptom severity and cognitive decline. These findings underscore the retina’s potential as a surrogate biomarker, facilitating early detection, stratification of disease risk and longitudinal monitoring of treatment effects. Employing OCT in psychiatric clinics could revolutionise precision psychiatry by integrating objective ocular metrics into clinical assessment and guiding mechanistic studies of neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative and neurovascular contributions to mental illness.
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Optical Coherence Tomography in Psychiatric Disorders publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in optical coherence tomography in psychiatric disorders across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Optical coherence tomography (OCT): A non-invasive imaging technique utilising near-infrared light to obtain high-resolution cross-sectional images of retinal layers.
Retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL): The innermost retinal stratum composed of axons from retinal ganglion cells, reflecting neuronal integrity.
Ganglion cell–inner plexiform layer (GCIPL): The combined layer containing retinal ganglion cell bodies and their synaptic connections within the inner plexiform region.
OCT angiography (OCTA): A functional extension of OCT that visualises and quantifies retinal microvasculature by detecting motion contrast from blood flow.
References
- Retina as a potential biomarker in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of optical coherence tomography and electroretinography. Molecular Psychiatry (2023).
- The use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography in borderline personality disorder compared to health control subjects. CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics (2024).
- Optical coherence tomography reveals retinal thinning in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience (2022).
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