1
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Maitra R, Lemmers-Jansen ILJ, Vooren M, Vanes L, Szentgyorgyi T, Crisp C, Mouchlianitis E, Shergill SS. Understanding the mechanisms underlying cognitive control in psychosis. Psychol Med 2024:1-10. [PMID: 38780379 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291724001119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cognitive control (CC) involves a top-down mechanism to flexibly respond to complex stimuli and is impaired in schizophrenia. METHODS This study investigated the impact of increasing complexity of CC processing in 140 subjects with psychosis and 39 healthy adults, with assessments of behavioral performance, neural regions of interest and symptom severity. RESULTS The lowest level of CC (Stroop task) was impaired in all patients; the intermediate level of CC (Faces task) with explicit emotional information was most impaired in patients with first episode psychosis. Patients showed activation of distinct neural CC and reward networks, but iterative learning based on the higher-order of CC during the trust game, was most impaired in chronic schizophrenia. Subjects with first episode psychosis, and patients with lower symptom load, demonstrate flexibility of the CC network to facilitate learning, which appeared compromised in the more chronic stages of schizophrenia. CONCLUSION These data suggest optimal windows for opportunities to introduce therapeutic interventions to improve CC.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Maitra
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - I L J Lemmers-Jansen
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Department of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Institute for Brain and Behavior Amsterdam (iBBA), Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - M Vooren
- Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Educational Studies, Section Methods and Statistics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- LEARN! Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Amsterdam Center for Learning Analytics (ACLA), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Lucy Vanes
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Timea Szentgyorgyi
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Charlotte Crisp
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Elias Mouchlianitis
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of East London, London, UK
| | - S S Shergill
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Kent and Medway Medical School, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
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2
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Roddy DW, Roman E, Nasa A, Gazzaz A, Zainy A, Burke T, Staines L, Kelleher I, O'Neill A, Clarke M, O'Hanlon E, Cannon M. Microstructural changes along the cingulum in young adolescents with psychotic experiences: An along-tract analysis. Eur J Neurosci 2022; 56:5116-5131. [PMID: 36004608 PMCID: PMC9825926 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Revised: 07/30/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Psychotic experiences (PEs) such as hallucinations and delusions are common among young people without psychiatric diagnoses and are associated with connectivity and white matter abnormalities, particularly in the limbic system. Using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in adolescents with reported PEs and matched controls, we examined the cingulum white matter tract along its length rather than as the usually reported single indivisible structure. Complex regional differences in diffusion metrics were found along the bundle at key loci following Bonferroni significance adjustment (p < .00013) with moderate to large effect sizes (.11-.76) throughout all significant subsegments. In this prospective community-based cohort of school-age children, these findings suggest that white matter alterations in the limbic system may be more common in the general non-clinical adolescent population than previously thought. Such white matter alternations may only be uncovered using a similar more granular along-tract analysis of white matter tracts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darren William Roddy
- Department of PsychiatryRoyal College of Surgeons in IrelandDublinIreland,Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Lloyd BuildingTrinity College DublinDublinIreland
| | - Elena Roman
- Department of PsychiatryRoyal College of Surgeons in IrelandDublinIreland
| | - Anurag Nasa
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Lloyd BuildingTrinity College DublinDublinIreland
| | - Areej Gazzaz
- Department of PsychiatryRoyal College of Surgeons in IrelandDublinIreland
| | - Ahmed Zainy
- Department of PsychiatryRoyal College of Surgeons in IrelandDublinIreland
| | - Tom Burke
- Department of PsychiatryRoyal College of Surgeons in IrelandDublinIreland
| | - Lorna Staines
- Department of PsychiatryRoyal College of Surgeons in IrelandDublinIreland
| | - Ian Kelleher
- Department of PsychiatryRoyal College of Surgeons in IrelandDublinIreland
| | - Aisling O'Neill
- Department of PsychiatryRoyal College of Surgeons in IrelandDublinIreland
| | - Mary Clarke
- Department of PsychiatryRoyal College of Surgeons in IrelandDublinIreland
| | - Erik O'Hanlon
- Department of PsychiatryRoyal College of Surgeons in IrelandDublinIreland,Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Lloyd BuildingTrinity College DublinDublinIreland
| | - Mary Cannon
- Department of PsychiatryRoyal College of Surgeons in IrelandDublinIreland
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3
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Sarpal DK, Tarcijonas G, Calabro FJ, Foran W, Haas GL, Luna B, Murty VP. Context-specific abnormalities of the central executive network in first-episode psychosis: relationship with cognition. Psychol Med 2022; 52:2299-2308. [PMID: 33222723 PMCID: PMC9805803 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291720004201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cognitive impairments, which contribute to the profound functional deficits observed in psychotic disorders, have found to be associated with abnormalities in trial-level cognitive control. However, neural tasks operate within the context of sustained cognitive states, which can be assessed with 'background connectivity' following the removal of task effects. To date, little is known about the integrity of brain processes supporting the maintenance of a cognitive state in individuals with psychotic disorders. Thus, here we examine background connectivity during executive processing in a cohort of participants with first-episode psychosis (FEP). METHODS The following fMRI study examined background connectivity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), during working memory engagement in a group of 43 patients with FEP, relative to 35 healthy controls (HC). Findings were also examined in relation to measures of executive function. RESULTS The FEP group relative to HC showed significantly lower background DLPFC connectivity with bilateral superior parietal lobule (SPL) and left inferior parietal lobule. Background connectivity between DLPFC and SPL was also positively associated with overall cognition across all subjects and in our FEP group. In comparison, resting-state frontoparietal connectivity did not differ between groups and was not significantly associated with overall cognition, suggesting that psychosis-related alterations in executive networks only emerged during states of goal-oriented behavior. CONCLUSIONS These results provide novel evidence indicating while frontoparietal connectivity at rest appears intact in psychosis, when engaged during a cognitive state, it is impaired possibly undermining cognitive control capacities in FEP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepak K. Sarpal
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Goda Tarcijonas
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Finnegan J. Calabro
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - William Foran
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Gretchen L. Haas
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Beatriz Luna
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Vishnu P. Murty
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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4
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The central executive network and executive function in healthy and persons with schizophrenia groups: a meta-analysis of structural and functional MRI. Brain Imaging Behav 2021; 16:1451-1464. [PMID: 34775552 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-021-00589-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/17/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
This meta-analysis evaluated the extent to which executive function can be understood with structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Studies included structural in schizophrenia (k = 8; n = 241) and healthy controls (k = 12; n = 1660), and functional in schizophrenia (k = 4; n = 104) and healthy controls (k = 12; n = 712). Results revealed a positive association in the brain behavior relationship when pooled across schizophrenia and control samples for structural (pr = 0.27) and functional (pr = 0.29) modalities. Subgroup analyses revealed no significant difference for functional neuroimaging (pr = .43, 95%CI = -.08-.77, p = .088) but with structural neuroimaging (pr = .37, 95%CI = -.08-.69, p = .015) the association to executive functions is lower in the control group. Subgroup analyses also revealed no significant differences in the strength of the brain-behavior relationship in the schizophrenia group (pr = .59, 95%CI = .58-.61, p = .881) or the control group (pr = 0.19, 95%CI = 0.18-0.19, p = 0.920), suggesting concordance.
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5
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Yan W, Ji W, Su C, Yu Y, Yu X, Chen L. Anger Experience and Anger Expression Through Drawing in Schizophrenia: An fNIRS Study. Front Psychol 2021; 12:721148. [PMID: 34539522 PMCID: PMC8441178 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.721148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Differences in emotion experience and emotion expression between patients with schizophrenia and the healthy population have long been the focus of research and clinical attention. However, few empirical studies have addressed this topic using art-making as a tool of emotion expression. This study explores the differences in brain mechanism during the process of expressing anger between patients with schizophrenia and healthy participants using pictographic psychological techniques. We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to fully detect changes in frontal cortex activity among participants in two groups-schizophrenia and healthy-during the process of experiencing and expressing anger. The results showed that there were no differences in the experience of anger between the two groups. In the process of anger expression, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, frontal pole, and other regions showed significant negative activation among patients with schizophrenia, which was significantly different from that of the healthy group. There were significant differences between patients with schizophrenia and the healthy group in the drawing features, drawing contents, and the ability to describe the contents of their drawings. Moreover, the effect size of the latter was greater than those of the former two. In terms of emotion expression, the drawing data and brain activation data were significantly correlated in each group; however, the correlation patterns differed between groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenhua Yan
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.,Affiliate Mental Health Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Weidong Ji
- Affiliate Mental Health Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, China
| | - Chen Su
- The School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yunhan Yu
- The School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiaoman Yu
- The School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Liangliang Chen
- Affiliate Mental Health Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, China
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6
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Wang X, Cheng B, Roberts N, Wang S, Luo Y, Tian F, Yue S. Shared and distinct brain fMRI response during performance of working memory tasks in adult patients with schizophrenia and major depressive disorder. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:5458-5476. [PMID: 34431584 PMCID: PMC8519858 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2020] [Revised: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Working memory (WM) impairments are common features of psychiatric disorders. A systematic meta-analysis was performed to determine common and disorder-specific brain fMRI response during performance of WM tasks in patients with SZ and patients with MDD relative to healthy controls (HC). Thirty-four published fMRI studies of WM in patients with SZ and 18 published fMRI studies of WM in patients with MDD, including relevant HC, were included in the meta-analysis. In both SZ and MDD there was common stronger fMRI response in right medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which are part of the default mode network (DMN). The effects were of greater magnitude in SZ than MDD, especially in prefrontal-temporal-cingulate-striatal-cerebellar regions. In addition, a disorder-specific weaker fMRI response was observed in right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) in MDD, relative to HC. For both SZ and MDD a significant correlation was observed between the severity of clinical symptoms and lateralized fMRI response relative to HC. These findings indicate that there may be common and distinct anomalies in brain function underlying deficits in WM in SZ and MDD, which may serve as a potential functional neuroimaging-based diagnostic biomarker with value in supporting clinical diagnosis, measuring illness severity and assessing the efficacy of treatments for SZ and MDD at the brain level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuli Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, the Fourth People's Hospital of Chengdu, Chengdu, China
| | - Bochao Cheng
- Department of Radiology, West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Neil Roberts
- Edinburgh Imaging Facility, Queens Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Song Wang
- Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Ya Luo
- Mental Health Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Fangfang Tian
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Suping Yue
- Department of Psychiatry, the Fourth People's Hospital of Chengdu, Chengdu, China
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7
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Increased Functional Coupling between VTA and Hippocampus during Rest in First-Episode Psychosis. eNeuro 2021; 8:ENEURO.0375-20.2021. [PMID: 33658310 PMCID: PMC7986546 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0375-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Revised: 02/16/2021] [Accepted: 02/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Animal models suggest that interactions between the hippocampus and ventral tegmental area (VTA) underlie the onset and etiology of psychosis. While a large body of research has separately characterized alterations in hippocampal and VTA function in psychosis, alterations across the VTA and hippocampus have not been characterized in first-episode psychosis (FEP). As the phase of psychosis most proximal to conversion, studies specifically focused on FEP are valuable to psychosis research. Here, we characterize alterations in VTA-hippocampal interactions across male and female human participants experiencing their first episode of psychosis using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI). In comparison to age and sex matched healthy controls (HCs), FEP individuals had significantly greater VTA-hippocampal functional coupling but significantly less VTA-striatal functional coupling. Further, increased VTA-hippocampal functional coupling in FEP correlated with individual differences in psychosis-related symptoms. Together, these findings demonstrate alterations in mesolimbic-hippocampal circuits in FEP and extend prominent animal models of psychosis.
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8
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Potvin S, Giguère CÉ, Mendrek A. Functional Connectivity During Visuospatial Processing in Schizophrenia: A Classification Study Using Lasso Regression. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 2021; 17:1077-1087. [PMID: 33888984 PMCID: PMC8055358 DOI: 10.2147/ndt.s304434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Robust evidence shows that schizophrenia is associated with significant cognitive impairments, including deficits in visuospatial abilities. While other cognitive domains have sparked several functional neuroimaging studies in schizophrenia, only a few brain activation studies have examined the neural correlates of visuospatial abilities in schizophrenia. PURPOSE Here, we propose to perform a functional connectivity study on visuospatial processing in schizophrenia, and to determine the classification accuracy of the observed alterations. METHODS Thirty-nine schizophrenia patients and 42 healthy controls were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a mental rotation task. Task-based functional connectivity was examined using a region-of-interest (ROI) to ROI approach, as implemented in the CONN Toolbox. ROIs were selected from a previous meta-analysis on mental rotation. Logistic regression with Lasso regularization was performed, using train-test cross-validation. RESULTS Schizophrenia was associated with a complex pattern of dysconnectivity between the superior, middle and inferior frontal gyrus, the precentral gyrus, the superior parietal lobule (SPL) and the inferior lateral occipital cortex. The classification accuracy was 86.1%. Mental rotation performance was predicted by the dysconnectivity between the right and left superior frontal gyrus (SFG), as well as between the left SFG and left SPL. CONCLUSION The results of the current study highlight that visuospatial processing is useful for examining the widespread dysconnectivity between executive, motor and visual brain regions in schizophrenia. We also demonstrate that very good classification accuracy can be achieved using visuospatial-related functional connectivity data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphane Potvin
- Centre de recherche de l'Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry and Addiction, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Charles-Édouard Giguère
- Centre de recherche de l'Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Adrianna Mendrek
- Department of Psychology, Bishop's University, Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada
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9
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Coffman BA, Murphy TK, Haas G, Olson C, Cho R, Ghuman AS, Salisbury DF. Lateralized evoked responses in parietal cortex demonstrate visual short-term memory deficits in first-episode schizophrenia. J Psychiatr Res 2020; 130:292-299. [PMID: 32866678 PMCID: PMC7554220 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.07.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2020] [Revised: 07/25/2020] [Accepted: 07/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Working memory dysfunction may be central to neurocognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Maintenance of visual information in working memory, or visual short-term memory (vSTM), is linked to general cognitive dysfunction and predicts functional outcome. Lateralized change-detection tasks afford investigation of the contralateral delay activity (CDA), a useful tool for investigating vSTM dysfunction. Previous work suggests "hyperfocusing" of attention in schizophrenia, such that CDA is increased when a single item is maintained in vSTM but reduced for multiple items. If observed early in the disease, vSTM dysfunction may be a key feature of schizophrenia or target for intervention. We investigated CDA during lateralized vSTM of one versus three items using sensor-level electroencephalography and source-level magnetoencephalography in 26 individuals at their first episode of schizophrenia-spectrum psychosis (FESz) and 26 matched healthy controls. FESz were unable to modulate CDA with increased memory load - high-load CDA was reduced and low-load CDA was increased compared to controls. Further, sources of CDA in posterior parietal cortex were reduced in FESz and indices of working memory were correlated with neurocognitive deficits and symptom severity. These results support working memory maintenance dysfunction as a central and early component to the disorder. Targeted intervention focusing on vSTM deficits may be warranted to alleviate downstream effects of this disability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian A Coffman
- Clinical Neurophysiology Research Laboratory, Western Psychiatric Hospital of UPMC, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Tim K Murphy
- Clinical Neurophysiology Research Laboratory, Western Psychiatric Hospital of UPMC, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Gretchen Haas
- Western Psychiatric Hospital of UPMC, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Carl Olson
- Center for Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Raymond Cho
- Western Psychiatric Hospital of UPMC, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Michael E. DeBakey Houston VA Medical Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Avniel Singh Ghuman
- Laboratory of Cognitive Neurodynamics, Department of Neurosurgery, Presbyterian Hospital, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Dean F Salisbury
- Clinical Neurophysiology Research Laboratory, Western Psychiatric Hospital of UPMC, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
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10
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Corcoran M, Hawkins EL, O'Hora D, Whalley HC, Hall J, Lawrie SM, Dauvermann MR. Are working memory and glutamate concentrations involved in early-life stress and severity of psychosis? Brain Behav 2020; 10:e01616. [PMID: 32385970 PMCID: PMC7303391 DOI: 10.1002/brb3.1616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2019] [Revised: 02/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Occurrences of early-life stress (ELS) are associated with the severity of psychotic symptoms and working memory (WM) deficits in patients with psychosis (PSY). This study investigated potential mediation roles of WM behavioral performance and glutamate concentrations in prefrontal brain regions on the association between ELS and psychotic symptom severity in PSY. METHOD Forty-seven patients with PSY (established schizophrenia, n = 30; bipolar disorder, n = 17) completed measures of psychotic symptom severity. In addition, data on ELS and WM performance were collected in both patients with PSY and healthy controls (HC; n = 41). Resting-state glutamate concentrations in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were also assessed with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy for both PSY and HC groups. t tests, analyses of variance, and regression analyses were utilized. RESULTS Participants with PSY reported significantly more ELS occurrences and showed poorer WM performance than HC. Furthermore, individuals with PSY displayed lower glutamate concentrations in the left DLPFC than HC. Neither ELS nor WM performance were predictive of severity of psychotic symptoms in participants with PSY. However, we found a significant negative correlation between glutamate concentrations in the left DLPFC and ELS occurrence in HC only. CONCLUSION In individuals with PSY, the current study found no evidence that the association between ELS and psychotic symptoms is mediated by WM performance or prefrontal glutamate concentrations. In HC, the association between ELS experience and glutamate concentrations may indicate a neurometabolite effect of ELS that is independent of an illness effect in psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Corcoran
- School of Psychology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Emma L Hawkins
- Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Denis O'Hora
- School of Psychology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | | | - Jeremy Hall
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK
| | | | - Maria R Dauvermann
- School of Psychology, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland.,McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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11
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Tarcijonas G, Foran W, Haas GL, Luna B, Sarpal DK. Intrinsic Connectivity of the Globus Pallidus: An Uncharted Marker of Functional Prognosis in People With First-Episode Schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 2020; 46:184-192. [PMID: 31150557 PMCID: PMC6942165 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbz034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
There is growing evidence suggesting that abnormalities in cortical-basal ganglia circuitry may play a significant role in determining outcomes in schizophrenia. The globus pallidus (GP), a critical structure within this circuitry, unique in its role as a mediator of competing inputs through the striatum, has not been well characterized in schizophrenia. The following study examined functional interactions of the GP in individuals with first-episode schizophrenia (FES). To probe the large-scale intrinsic connectivity of the GP, resting-state fMRI scans were obtained from patients with FES and sex and age-matched healthy controls. Participants with FES were also evaluated after 6 months via the Strauss-Carpenter Outcomes Scale to assess overall functional trajectory. The GP was parcellated to generate seeds within its substructures, and connectivity maps were generated. Our FES cohort showed significantly lower functional connectivity between the left GP interna and a network of regions including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, caudate, and cerebellum at baseline. In addition, FES participants with lower overall scores of functioning at 6 months showed significantly decreased connectivity between the GP interna and the dorsal anterior cingulate and bilateral insula, all regions important for motivational salience. These results provide novel evidence for unique abnormalities in functional interactions of the GP with key prefrontal cortical regions in FES. Our findings also suggest that reduced prefrontal-pallidal connectivity may serve as a predictor of early functional outcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Goda Tarcijonas
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - William Foran
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Gretchen L Haas
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Beatriz Luna
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA,Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA,Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Deepak K Sarpal
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA,To whom correspondence should be addressed; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 3501 Forbes Avenue, Suite 530, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, US; tel: 412-246-5618, fax: 412-246-5007, e-mail:
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12
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Manivannan A, Foran W, Jalbrzikowski M, Murty VP, Haas GL, Tarcijonas G, Luna B, Sarpal DK. Association Between Duration of Untreated Psychosis and Frontostriatal Connectivity During Maintenance of Visuospatial Working Memory. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2019; 4:454-461. [PMID: 30852127 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2018] [Revised: 01/09/2019] [Accepted: 01/16/2019] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A longer duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) has been linked with poor clinical outcomes and variation in resting-state striatal connectivity with central executive regions. However, the link between DUP and task-based activation of executive neurocognition has not previously been examined. This functional magnetic resonance imaging study examined the association between DUP and both activation and frontostriatal functional connectivity during a visual working memory (WM) paradigm in patients with first-episode psychosis. METHODS Patients with first-episode psychosis (n = 37) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning while performing a visual WM task. At the single-subject level, task conditions were modeled; at the group level, each condition was examined along with DUP. Activation was examined within the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a primary region supporting visual WM activation. Frontostriatal functional connectivity during the WM was examined via psychophysical interaction between the dorsal caudate and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Results were compared with a reference range of connectivity values in a matched group of healthy volunteers (n = 25). Task performance was also examined in relation to neuroimaging findings. RESULTS No significant association was observed between DUP and WM activation. Longer DUP showed less functional frontostriatal connectivity with the maintenance of increasing WM load. Results were not related to task performance measures, consistent with previous work. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that DUP may affect frontostriatal circuitry that supports executive functioning. Future work is necessary to examine if these findings contribute to the mechanism underlying the relationship between DUP and worsened clinical outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashwinee Manivannan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - William Foran
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Maria Jalbrzikowski
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Vishnu P Murty
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Gretchen L Haas
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Goda Tarcijonas
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Beatriz Luna
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Deepak K Sarpal
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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