Strategies to solve the reverse inference fallacy in future MRI studies of schizophrenia: a review

Few advances in schizophrenia research have been translated into clinical practice, despite 60 years of serum biomarkers studies and 50 years of genetic studies. During the last 30 years, neuroimaging studies on schizophrenia have gradually increased, partly due to the beautiful prospect that the pathophysiology of schizophrenia could be explained entirely by the Human Connectome Project (HCP). However, the fallacy of reverse inference has been a critical problem of the HCP. For this reason, there is a dire need for new strategies or research “bridges” to further schizophrenia at the biological level. To understand the importance of research “bridges,” it is vital to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the recent literature. Hence, in this review, our team has summarized the recent literature (1995–2018) about magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of schizophrenia in terms of regional and global structural and functional alterations. We have also provided a new proposal that may supplement the HCP for studying schizophrenia. As postulated, despite the vast number of MRI studies in schizophrenia, the lack of homogeneity between the studies, along with the relatedness of schizophrenia with other neurological disorders, has hindered the study of schizophrenia. In addition, the reverse inference cannot be used to diagnose schizophrenia, further limiting the clinical impact of findings from medical imaging studies. We believe that multidisciplinary technologies may be used to develop research “bridges” to further investigate schizophrenia at the single neuron or neuron cluster levels. We have postulated about future strategies for overcoming the current limitations and establishing the research “bridges,” with an emphasis on multimodality imaging, molecular imaging, neuron cluster signals, single transmitter biomarkers, and nanotechnology. These research “bridges” may help solve the reverse inference fallacy and improve our understanding of schizophrenia for future studies.