Objective  To investigate hippocampal development deviation and its association with cognition in patients with major psychiatric disorders (MPDs), including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.

  Methods  The T1-weighted MRI data of 174 first-episode drug-naïve schizophrenia (FES) atients, 169 bipolar disorder (BD) patients, 184 major depressive disorder (MDD) patients, and 321 healthy controls were collected and their hippocampal volume was extracted after preprocessing with Freesurfer 5.3. A normative neurodevelopment model was applied to calculate the hippocampal deviation scores. Data on cognitive functions, including visual memory, attention, spatial working memory, were collected. Comparison by different sexes was made to identify difference between the hippocampal development deviation scores of the control group and those of the disease groups. We also investigated the moderating effect of age on the deviation score and explored the association between the deviation score and cognitive function.

  Results  The hippocampal development deviation scores of patients with MPDs were significantly lower than those of the healthy controls (false discovery rate FDR-P<0.05). Analysis of the moderating effect of age revealed lower deviation scores in young patients (<25.83-28.56 yr.) and higher deviation scores in old patients (>35.87-54.35 yr.) in comparison with those of the healthy controls. The right hippocampal deviation scores in male FES patients were positively correlated with the number of errors for tasks concerning spatial working memory (r=0.32, FDR-P=0.04).

  Conclusion  Our findings suggest abnormal hippocampal development in MPDs patients and its different distribution in MPDs patients of different age groups. The hippocampal development deviation score may provide a new perspective for further understanding of etiology in MPDs.