No abstract

Altered resting-state functional connectivity (FC) of the amygdala (AMY) has been demonstrated to be implicated in schizophrenia (SZ) and attenuated psychosis syndrome (APS). Specifically, no prior work has investigated FC in individuals with APS using subregions of the AMY as seed regions of interest. The present study examined AMY subregion-based FC in individuals with APS and first-episode schizophrenia (FES) and healthy controls (HCs). The resting state FC maps of the three AMY subregions were computed and compared across the three groups. Correlation analysis was also performed to examine the relationship between the Z-values of regions showing significant group differences and symptom rating scores. Individuals with APS showed hyperconnectivity between the right centromedial AMY (CMA) and left frontal pole cortex (FPC) and between the laterobasal AMY and brain stem and right inferior lateral occipital cortex compared to HCs. Patients with FES showed hyperconnectivity between the right superficial AMY and left occipital pole cortex and between the left CMA and left thalamus compared to the APS and HCs respectively. A negative relationship was observed between the connectivity strength of the CMA with the FPC and negative-others score of the Brief Core Schema Scales in the APS group. We observed different altered FC with subregions of the AMY in individuals with APS and FES compared to HCs. These results shed light on the pathogenetic mechanisms underpinning the development of APS and SZ.

Objective The present study investigated the functional neuroanatomy underlying negative and positive schemas towards the self and others in patients with early stage schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) using a task-based fMRI procedure.Methods This study included 50 patients with SSDs and 52 controls. The schema-evoking task consisted of four active conditions and neutral condition. Differences in brain activation were compared between the two groups. Correlation analysis was performed between task-related activation and psychopathology.Results The SSD patients exhibited higher activity of the left middle and inferior frontal gyri under the negative-others minus neutral contrast as well as greater activation of the left superior and middle frontal gyri and right medial superior frontal gyrus under the positive- self minus neutral and positive-others minus neutral contrasts. Under the positive-others minus neutral contrast, negative correlation was observed between activity of the right inferior parietal gyrus and right angular and total score of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), whereas positive correlation between activity of the left middle cingulate gyrus and left/right precuneus and positive-others score of the Brief Core Schema Scales (BCSS).Conclusion The present findings suggest that the frontal brain regions of SSD patients are more sensitive to negative and positive schemas towards the self and/or others compared to those of controls.