A functional neuroimaging study of self-other processing alterations in atypical developmental trajectories of psychotic-like experiences

Abstract

Self-disturbances constitute a hallmark of psychosis, but it remains unclear whether these alterations are present in at-risk populations, and therefore their role in the development of psychosis has yet to be confirmed. The present study addressed this question by measuring neural correlates of self-other processing in youth belonging to three developmental trajectories of psychotic experiences. Eighty-six youths were recruited from a longitudinal cohort of over 3800 adolescents based on their trajectories of Psychotic-Like Experiences from 12 to 16 years of age. Participants underwent neuroimaging at 17 years of age (mean). A functional neuroimaging task evaluating self- and other-related trait judgments was used to measure whole-brain activation and connectivity. Youth who showed an increasing trajectory displayed hypoactivation of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and hypoconnectivity with the cerebellum. By contrast, youth who showed a decreasing trajectory displayed decreased activation of the superior temporal gyrus, the inferior frontal gyrus, and the middle occipital gyrus. These findings suggest that the increasing trajectory is associated with alterations that might erode distinctions between self and other, influencing the emergence of symptoms such as hallucinations. The decreasing trajectory, in comparison, was associated with hypoactivations in areas influencing attention and basic information processing more generally. These alterations might affect the trajectories’ susceptibilities to positive vs. negative symptoms, respectively.

Neurocognitive consequences of adolescent sleep disruptions and their relationship to psychosis vulnerability: a longitudinal cohort study

“…model of psychosis according to which auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) result from the combination of inhibitory and self-monitoring deficits 7 . Of note, self-monitoring deficits have been noted in a sub-sample of the CoVenture cohort experiencing high PLEs frequency 45 . These findings also echo previous results in schizophrenia patients who display a higher frequency of go/no-go commission errors, which is in turn associated with a worse total-PANSS and general psychopathology scores 5 .…”

Cerebro-cerebellar gray matter abnormalities associated with cognitive impairment in patients with recent-onset and chronic schizophrenia

“…Functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) are common neuroimaging modalities that assess the interactions between distinct brain regions at functional and structural levels, respectively. Previous functional MRI studies have demonstrated that dysfunctional connectivity of the CCTCC is associated with impaired cognitive performance 39 , 40 and clinical manifestations, including positive and negative symptoms 41 – 43 and self-experience disturbances 44 , 45 , in patients with schizophrenia. DTI studies have indicated that aberrations in white matter tracts connecting the cerebrum and cerebellum correlate with poor cognitive functioning 46 – 49 and clinical symptom severity 50 , 51 .…”