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Deng W, Tuominen L, Sussman R, Leathem L, Vinke LN, Holt DJ. Changes in responses of the amygdala and hippocampus during fear conditioning are associated with persecutory beliefs. Sci Rep 2024; 14:8173. [PMID: 38589562 PMCID: PMC11001942 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-57746-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The persecutory delusion is the most common symptom of psychosis, yet its underlying neurobiological mechanisms are poorly understood. Prior studies have suggested that abnormalities in medial temporal lobe-dependent associative learning may contribute to this symptom. In the current study, this hypothesis was tested in a non-clinical sample of young adults without histories of psychiatric treatment (n = 64), who underwent classical Pavlovian fear conditioning while fMRI data were collected. During the fear conditioning procedure, participants viewed images of faces which were paired (the CS+) or not paired (the CS-) with an aversive stimulus (a mild electrical shock). Fear conditioning-related neural responses were measured in two medial temporal lobe regions, the amygdala and hippocampus, and in other closely connected brain regions of the salience and default networks. The participants without persecutory beliefs (n = 43) showed greater responses to the CS- compared to the CS+ in the right amygdala and hippocampus, while the participants with persecutory beliefs (n = 21) failed to exhibit this response. These between-group differences were not accounted for by symptoms of depression, anxiety or a psychosis risk syndrome. However, the severity of subclinical psychotic symptoms overall was correlated with the level of this aberrant response in the amygdala (p = .013) and hippocampus (p = .033). Thus, these findings provide evidence for a disruption of medial temporal lobe-dependent associative learning in young people with subclinical psychotic symptoms, specifically persecutory thinking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wisteria Deng
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th, St. Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Lauri Tuominen
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th, St. Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Rachel Sussman
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th, St. Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA
| | - Logan Leathem
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th, St. Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA
| | - Louis N Vinke
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th, St. Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daphne J Holt
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th, St. Charlestown, Boston, MA, 02129, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
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Impairment in acquisition of conditioned fear in schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:681-686. [PMID: 34588608 PMCID: PMC8782847 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01193-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Revised: 09/13/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Individuals with schizophrenia show impairments in associative learning. One well-studied, quantifiable form of associative learning is Pavlovian fear conditioning. However, to date, studies of fear conditioning in schizophrenia have been inconclusive, possibly because they lacked sufficient power. To address this issue, we pooled data from four independent fear conditioning studies that included a total of 77 individuals with schizophrenia and 74 control subjects. Skin conductance responses (SCRs) to stimuli that were paired (the CS + ) or not paired (CS-) with an aversive, unconditioned stimulus were measured, and the success of acquisition of differential conditioning (the magnitude of CS + vs. CS- SCRs) and responses to CS + and CS- separately were assessed. We found that acquisition of differential conditioned fear responses was significantly lower in individuals with schizophrenia than in healthy controls (Cohen's d = 0.53). This effect was primarily related to a significantly higher response to the CS- stimulus in the schizophrenia compared to the control group. Moreover, the magnitude of this response to the CS- in the schizophrenia group was correlated with the severity of delusional ideation (p = 0.006). Other symptoms or antipsychotic dose were not associated with fear conditioning measures. In conclusion, individuals with schizophrenia who endorse delusional beliefs may be over-responsive to neutral stimuli during fear conditioning. This finding is consistent with prior models of abnormal associative learning in psychosis.
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Millman ZB, Schiffman J, Gold JM, Akouri-Shan L, Demro C, Fitzgerald J, Rakhshan Rouhakhtar PJ, Klaunig M, Rowland LM, Waltz JA. Linking Salience Signaling With Early Adversity and Affective Distress in Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis: Results From an Event-Related fMRI Study. SCHIZOPHRENIA BULLETIN OPEN 2022; 3:sgac039. [PMID: 35799887 PMCID: PMC9250803 DOI: 10.1093/schizbullopen/sgac039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Evidence suggests dysregulation of the salience network in individuals with psychosis, but few studies have examined the intersection of stress exposure and affective distress with prediction error (PE) signals among youth at clinical high-risk (CHR). Here, 26 individuals at CHR and 19 healthy volunteers (HVs) completed a monetary incentive delay task in conjunction with fMRI. We compared these groups on the amplitudes of neural responses to surprising outcomes—PEs without respect to their valence—across the whole brain and in two regions of interest, the anterior insula and amygdala. We then examined relations of these signals to the severity of depression, anxiety, and trauma histories in the CHR group. Relative to HV, youth at CHR presented with aberrant PE-evoked activation of the temporoparietal junction and weaker deactivation of the precentral gyrus, posterior insula, and associative striatum. No between-group differences were observed in the amygdala or anterior insula. Among youth at CHR, greater trauma histories were correlated with stronger PE-evoked amygdala activation. No associations were found between affective symptoms and the neural responses to PE. Our results suggest that unvalenced PE signals may provide unique information about the neurobiology of CHR syndromes and that early adversity exposure may contribute to neurobiological heterogeneity in this group. Longitudinal studies of young people with a range of risk syndromes are needed to further disentangle the contributions of distinct aspects of salience signaling to the development of psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary B Millman
- Psychotic Disorders Division, McLean Hospital , 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478 , USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School , 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02114 , USA
| | - Jason Schiffman
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine , 4201 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Irvine, CA 92697-7085 , USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland , Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 , USA
| | - James M Gold
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine , 55 Wade Avenue, Catonsville, MD 21228 , USA
| | - LeeAnn Akouri-Shan
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland , Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 , USA
| | - Caroline Demro
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Parkway , Minneapolis, MN 55455 , USA
| | - John Fitzgerald
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland , Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 , USA
| | - Pamela J Rakhshan Rouhakhtar
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland , Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 , USA
| | - Mallory Klaunig
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland , Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 , USA
| | - Laura M Rowland
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine , 55 Wade Avenue, Catonsville, MD 21228 , USA
| | - James A Waltz
- Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine , 55 Wade Avenue, Catonsville, MD 21228 , USA
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Harb M, Jagusch J, Durairaja A, Endres T, Leßmann V, Fendt M. BDNF haploinsufficiency induces behavioral endophenotypes of schizophrenia in male mice that are rescued by enriched environment. Transl Psychiatry 2021; 11:233. [PMID: 33888685 PMCID: PMC8062437 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-021-01365-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Revised: 03/26/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is implicated in a number of processes that are crucial for healthy functioning of the brain. Schizophrenia is associated with low BDNF levels in the brain and blood, however, not much is known about BDNF's role in the different symptoms of schizophrenia. Here, we used BDNF-haploinsufficient (BDNF+/-) mice to investigate the role of BDNF in different mouse behavioral endophenotypes of schizophrenia. Furthermore, we assessed if an enriched environment can prevent the observed changes. In this study, male mature adult wild-type and BDNF+/- mice were tested in mouse paradigms for cognitive flexibility (attentional set shifting), sensorimotor gating (prepulse inhibition), and associative emotional learning (safety and fear conditioning). Before these tests, half of the mice had a 2-month exposure to an enriched environment, including running wheels. After the tests, BDNF brain levels were quantified. BDNF+/- mice had general deficits in the attentional set-shifting task, increased startle magnitudes, and prepulse inhibition deficits. Contextual fear learning was not affected but safety learning was absent. Enriched environment housing completely prevented the observed behavioral deficits in BDNF+/- mice. Notably, the behavioral performance of the mice was negatively correlated with BDNF protein levels. These novel findings strongly suggest that decreased BDNF levels are associated with several behavioral endophenotypes of schizophrenia. Furthermore, an enriched environment increases BDNF protein to wild-type levels and is thereby able to rescue these behavioral endophenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahmoud Harb
- grid.5807.a0000 0001 1018 4307Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Justina Jagusch
- grid.5807.a0000 0001 1018 4307Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Archana Durairaja
- grid.5807.a0000 0001 1018 4307Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Endres
- grid.5807.a0000 0001 1018 4307Institute of Physiology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Volkmar Leßmann
- Institute of Physiology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany. .,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
| | - Markus Fendt
- Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany. .,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
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Lukow PB, Kiemes A, Kempton MJ, Turkheimer FE, McGuire P, Modinos G. Neural correlates of emotional processing in psychosis risk and onset - A systematic review and meta-analysis of fMRI studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 128:780-788. [PMID: 33722617 PMCID: PMC8345001 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2020] [Revised: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The neural bases of altered emotion processing in psychosis are still unclear. Systematic review indicated widespread activation decreases to emotion in first-episode psychosis. Evidence in people at clinical high-risk for psychosis lacked convergence. These findings were corroborated by image-based meta-analyses.
Aberrant emotion processing is a well-established component of psychotic disorders and is already present at the first episode of psychosis (FEP). However, the role of emotion processing abnormalities in the emergence of psychosis and the underlying neurobiology remain unclear. Here, we systematically reviewed functional magnetic resonance studies that used emotion processing task paradigms in FEP patients, and in people at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHRp). Image-based meta-analyses with Seed-based d Mapping on available studies (n = 6) were also performed. Compared to controls, FEP patients showed decreased neural responses to emotion, particularly in the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex. There were no significant differences between CHRp subjects and controls, but a high degree of heterogeneity was identified across studies. The role of altered emotion processing in the early phase of psychosis may be clarified through more homogenous experimental designs, particularly in the CHRp population.
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Affiliation(s)
- P B Lukow
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF, London, UK.
| | - A Kiemes
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF, London, UK.
| | - M J Kempton
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF, London, UK.
| | - F E Turkheimer
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF, London, UK.
| | - P McGuire
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF, London, UK.
| | - G Modinos
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF, London, UK; Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF, London, UK; MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King's College London, new hunt's House, Guy's Campus, SE1 1UL, London, UK.
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