Trichotillomania is a psychiatric condition characterized by repetitive pulling out of one's hair, leading to marked functional impairment. The aim of this study was to examine the association between duration of trichotillomania (defined as time between initial age of onset and current age) and structural brain abnormalities by pooling all available global data. Authors of published neuroimaging studies of trichotillomania were contacted and invited to contribute de-identified MRI scans for a pooled analysis. Freesurfer pipelines were used to examine whether cortical thickness and sub-cortical volumes were associated with duration of illness in adults with trichotillomania. The sample comprised 50 adults with trichotillomania (100% not taking psychotropic medication; mean [SD] age 34.3 [12.3] years; 92% female). Longer duration of illness was associated with lower cortical thickness in bilateral superior frontal cortex and left rostral middle frontal cortex. Volumes of the a priori sub-cortical structures of interest were not significantly correlated with duration of illness (all p > 0.05 uncorrected). This study is the first to suggest that trichotillomania is associated with biological changes over time. If this finding is supported by prospective studies, it could have important implications for treatment (i.e. treatment might need to be tailored for stage of illness). Viewed alongside prior work, the data suggest that brain changes in trichotillomania may be differentially associated with vulnerability (excess thickness in right inferior frontal cortex) and with chronicity (reduced thickness in medial and superior frontal cortex). Longitudinal research is now indicated.

中文翻译：

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拔毛癖的疾病持续时间和皮质厚度：疾病随时间变化的初步证据

拔毛癖是一种精神疾病，其特征是反复拔头发，导致明显的功能障碍。本研究的目的是通过汇集所有可用的全球数据来检查拔毛癖持续时间（定义为初始发病年龄和当前年龄之间的时间）与结构性脑异常之间的关联。我们联系了已发表的拔毛癖神经影像学研究的作者，并邀请他们提供去识别化的 MRI 扫描以进行汇总分析。Freesurfer 管道用于检查皮质厚度和皮质下体积是否与拔毛癖成人的疾病持续时间相关。该样本包括 50 名患有拔毛癖的成年人（100% 未服用精神药物；平均 [SD] 年龄 34.3 [12.3] 岁；92% 为女性）。较长的病程与双侧上额叶皮层和左额叶中额叶皮层的皮层厚度较低有关。感兴趣的先验皮层下结构的体积与疾病持续时间没有显着相关性（所有 p > 0.05 未校正）。这项研究首次表明拔毛癖与生物随时间的变化有关。如果这一发现得到前瞻性研究的支持，它可能对治疗具有重要意义（即治疗可能需要针对疾病阶段进行调整）。与先前的工作一起查看，数据表明拔毛癖的大脑变化可能与脆弱性（右下额叶皮层的厚度过大）和慢性（内侧和上额叶皮层的厚度减少）存在差异。