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Toro VD, Antonucci LA, Quarto T, Passiatore R, Fazio L, Ursini G, Chen Q, Masellis R, Torretta S, Sportelli L, Kikidis GC, Massari F, D'Ambrosio E, Rampino A, Pergola G, Weinberger DR, Bertolino A, Blasi G. The interaction between early life complications and a polygenic risk score for schizophrenia is associated with brain activity during emotion processing in healthy participants. Psychol Med 2024; 54:1876-1885. [PMID: 38305128 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291724000011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous evidence suggests that early life complications (ELCs) interact with polygenic risk for schizophrenia (SCZ) in increasing risk for the disease. However, no studies have investigated this interaction on neurobiological phenotypes. Among those, anomalous emotion-related brain activity has been reported in SCZ, even if evidence of its link with SCZ-related genetic risk is not solid. Indeed, it is possible this relationship is influenced by non-genetic risk factors. Thus, this study investigated the interaction between SCZ-related polygenic risk and ELCs on emotion-related brain activity. METHODS 169 healthy participants (HP) in a discovery and 113 HP in a replication sample underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during emotion processing, were categorized for history of ELCs and genome-wide genotyped. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) were computed using SCZ-associated variants considering the most recent genome-wide association study. Furthermore, 75 patients with SCZ also underwent fMRI during emotion processing to verify consistency of their brain activity patterns with those associated with risk factors for SCZ in HP. RESULTS Results in the discovery and replication samples indicated no effect of PRSs, but an interaction between PRS and ELCs in left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), where the greater the activity, the greater PRS only in presence of ELCs. Moreover, SCZ had greater VLPFC response than HP. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that emotion-related VLPFC response lies in the path from genetic and non-genetic risk factors to the clinical presentation of SCZ, and may implicate an updated concept of intermediate phenotype considering early non-genetic factors of risk for SCZ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronica Debora Toro
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
- Department of Humanities, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
| | - Linda A Antonucci
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
| | - Tiziana Quarto
- Department of Humanities, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
| | - Roberta Passiatore
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
| | - Leonardo Fazio
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Libera Università Mediterranea "Giuseppe Degennaro", Bari, Italy
| | - Gianluca Ursini
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Qiang Chen
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Rita Masellis
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
- U.O.C. Psichiatria Universitaria, Azìenda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale Policlinico, Bari, Italy
| | - Silvia Torretta
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
| | - Leonardo Sportelli
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
| | - Gianluca Christos Kikidis
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
| | - Francesco Massari
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
| | - Enrico D'Ambrosio
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Antonio Rampino
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
- U.O.C. Psichiatria Universitaria, Azìenda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale Policlinico, Bari, Italy
| | - Giulio Pergola
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Daniel R Weinberger
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Alessandro Bertolino
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
- U.O.C. Psichiatria Universitaria, Azìenda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale Policlinico, Bari, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Blasi
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy
- U.O.C. Psichiatria Universitaria, Azìenda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale Policlinico, Bari, Italy
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Passiatore R, Antonucci LA, DeRamus TP, Fazio L, Stolfa G, Sportelli L, Kikidis GC, Blasi G, Chen Q, Dukart J, Goldman AL, Mattay VS, Popolizio T, Rampino A, Sambataro F, Selvaggi P, Ulrich W, Weinberger DR, Bertolino A, Calhoun VD, Pergola G. Changes in patterns of age-related network connectivity are associated with risk for schizophrenia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2221533120. [PMID: 37527347 PMCID: PMC10410767 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2221533120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Alterations in fMRI-based brain functional network connectivity (FNC) are associated with schizophrenia (SCZ) and the genetic risk or subthreshold clinical symptoms preceding the onset of SCZ, which often occurs in early adulthood. Thus, age-sensitive FNC changes may be relevant to SCZ risk-related FNC. We used independent component analysis to estimate FNC from childhood to adulthood in 9,236 individuals. To capture individual brain features more accurately than single-session fMRI, we studied an average of three fMRI scans per individual. To identify potential familial risk-related FNC changes, we compared age-related FNC in first-degree relatives of SCZ patients mostly including unaffected siblings (SIB) with neurotypical controls (NC) at the same age stage. Then, we examined how polygenic risk scores for SCZ influenced risk-related FNC patterns. Finally, we investigated the same risk-related FNC patterns in adult SCZ patients (oSCZ) and young individuals with subclinical psychotic symptoms (PSY). Age-sensitive risk-related FNC patterns emerge during adolescence and early adulthood, but not before. Young SIB always followed older NC patterns, with decreased FNC in a cerebellar-occipitoparietal circuit and increased FNC in two prefrontal-sensorimotor circuits when compared to young NC. Two of these FNC alterations were also found in oSCZ, with one exhibiting reversed pattern. All were linked to polygenic risk for SCZ in unrelated individuals (R2 varied from 0.02 to 0.05). Young PSY showed FNC alterations in the same direction as SIB when compared to NC. These results suggest that age-related neurotypical FNC correlates with genetic risk for SCZ and is detectable with MRI in young participants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberta Passiatore
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124Bari, Italy
- Tri-institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Emory University, 30303Atlanta, GA
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behavior, Research Centre Jülich, 52428Jülich, Germany
| | - Linda A. Antonucci
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124Bari, Italy
| | - Thomas P. DeRamus
- Tri-institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Emory University, 30303Atlanta, GA
| | - Leonardo Fazio
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Libera Università Mediterranea Giuseppe Degennaro, 70010Casamassima, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Stolfa
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124Bari, Italy
| | - Leonardo Sportelli
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124Bari, Italy
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, 21205Baltimore, MD
| | - Gianluca C. Kikidis
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124Bari, Italy
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, 21205Baltimore, MD
| | - Giuseppe Blasi
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124Bari, Italy
- Psychiatric Unit, University Hospital, 70124Bari, Italy
| | - Qiang Chen
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, 21205Baltimore, MD
| | - Juergen Dukart
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain and Behavior, Research Centre Jülich, 52428Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Aaron L. Goldman
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, 21205Baltimore, MD
| | - Venkata S. Mattay
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, 21205Baltimore, MD
- Department of Neurology and Radiology, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, 21287Baltimore, MD
| | - Teresa Popolizio
- Neuroradiology Unit, Scientific Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Health Care, Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, 71013San Giovanni Rotondo, Foggia, Italy
| | - Antonio Rampino
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124Bari, Italy
- Psychiatric Unit, University Hospital, 70124Bari, Italy
| | - Fabio Sambataro
- Section of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35121Padua, Italy
| | - Pierluigi Selvaggi
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124Bari, Italy
- Psychiatric Unit, University Hospital, 70124Bari, Italy
| | - William Ulrich
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, 21205Baltimore, MD
| | - Apulian Network on Risk for Psychosis
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124Bari, Italy
- Department of Mental Health, Azienda Sanitaria Locale Foggia, 71121Foggia, Italy
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, 71122Foggia, Italy
- Department of Mental Health, Azienda Sanitaria Locale Barletta-Andria-Trani, 76123Andria, Italy
- Department of Mental Health, Azienda Sanitaria Locale Bari, 70132Bari, Italy
- Department of Mental Health, Azienda Sanitaria Locale Brindisi, 72100Brindisi, Italy
| | - Daniel R. Weinberger
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, 21205Baltimore, MD
- Department of Neurology and Radiology, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, 21287Baltimore, MD
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 21205Baltimore, MD
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 21287Baltimore, MD
- Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 21287Baltimore, MD
| | - Alessandro Bertolino
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124Bari, Italy
- Psychiatric Unit, University Hospital, 70124Bari, Italy
| | - Vince D. Calhoun
- Tri-institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Emory University, 30303Atlanta, GA
| | - Giulio Pergola
- Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124Bari, Italy
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, 21205Baltimore, MD
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 21205Baltimore, MD
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Antonucci LA, Pergola G, Passiatore R, Taurisano P, Quarto T, Dispoto E, Rampino A, Bertolino A, Cassibba R, Blasi G. The interaction between OXTR rs2268493 and perceived maternal care is associated with amygdala-dorsolateral prefrontal effective connectivity during explicit emotion processing. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2020; 270:553-565. [PMID: 31471679 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-019-01062-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2019] [Accepted: 08/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies have indicated a link between socio-emotional processing and the oxytocin receptor. In this regard, a single nucleotide polymorphism in the oxytocin receptor coding gene (OXTR rs2268493) has been linked with lower social functioning, increased risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and with post-mortem OXTR mRNA expression levels. Indeed, the levels of expression of OXTR in brain regions involved in emotion processing are also associated with maternal care. Furthermore, maternal care has been associated with emotional correlates. Taken together, these previous findings suggest a possible combined effect of rs2268493 and maternal care on emotion-related brain phenotypes. A crucial biological mechanism subtending emotional processing is the amygdala-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) functional connection. On this basis, our aim was to investigate the interaction between rs2268493 and maternal care on amygdala-DLPFC effective connectivity during emotional evaluation. We characterized through dynamic causal modeling (DCM) patterns of amygdala-DLPFC effective connectivity during explicit emotion processing in healthy controls (HC), profiled based on maternal care and rs2268493 genotype. In the whole sample, right top-down DLPFC-to-amygdala pattern was the most likely directional model of effective connectivity. This pattern of connectivity was the most likely for all rs2268493/maternal care subgroups, except for thymine homozygous (TT)/low maternal care individuals. Here, a right bottom-up amygdala-to-DLPFC was the most likely directional model. These results suggest a gene by environment interaction mediated by the oxytocin receptor on biological phenotypes relevant to emotion processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda A Antonucci
- Section for Neurodiagnostic Applications, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, 80336, Munich, Germany.,Department of Educational Science, Psychology and Communication Science, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", 70121, Bari, Italy.,Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124, Bari, Italy
| | - Giulio Pergola
- Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124, Bari, Italy
| | - Roberta Passiatore
- Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124, Bari, Italy
| | - Paolo Taurisano
- Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124, Bari, Italy.,IRCCS "Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza", San Giovanni Rotondo, 71013, Foggia, Italy
| | - Tiziana Quarto
- Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124, Bari, Italy
| | - Eleonora Dispoto
- Department of Educational Science, Psychology and Communication Science, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", 70121, Bari, Italy
| | - Antonio Rampino
- Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124, Bari, Italy.,Psychiatry Unit, Bari University Hospital, 70124, Bari, Italy
| | - Alessandro Bertolino
- Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124, Bari, Italy.,Psychiatry Unit, Bari University Hospital, 70124, Bari, Italy
| | - Rosalinda Cassibba
- Department of Educational Science, Psychology and Communication Science, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", 70121, Bari, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Blasi
- Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124, Bari, Italy. .,Psychiatry Unit, Bari University Hospital, 70124, Bari, Italy.
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4
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Rampino A, Torretta S, Rizzo G, Viscanti G, Quarto T, Gelao B, Fazio L, Attrotto MT, Masellis R, Pergola G, Bertolino A, Blasi G. Emotional Stability Interacts with Cortisol Levels Before fMRI on Brain Processing of Fearful Faces. Neuroscience 2019; 416:190-197. [PMID: 31400483 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Revised: 07/31/2019] [Accepted: 08/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Functional-Magnetic-Imaging (fMRI) is widely adopted to investigate neurophysiological correlates of emotion processing (EP). However, studies have reported that scanning procedures in neuroimaging protocols may increase or cause anxiety and psychological distress related with the scanning, thus inducing peripheral cortisol release. These phenomena may in turn impact on brain EP. Additionally, previous findings have indicated that inter-individual differences in stress-response intensity are mediated by levels of Emotional Stability (ES), a personality trait that has been associated with brain activity during EP, especially in amygdala and prefrontal cortex (PFC). The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between indices of stress related to anticipation of fMRI scanning and levels of ES on amygdala and PFC activity during EP. With this aim, 55 healthy volunteers were characterized for trait ES. Furthermore, salivary cortisol levels at baseline and soon before fMRI scanning were measured as an index of stress related to scanning anticipation. During fMRI, participants performed an explicit EP task. We found that variation in salivary cortisol (Δc) interacts with ES on left amygdala and PFC activity during EP. More in details, in the context of a higher ES, the greater the Δc, the lower the activity in left amygdala and PFC. In the context of lower ES, the opposite Δc-brain activity relationship was found. Our results suggest that the stressful potential of fMRI interacts with personality traits in modulating brain activity during EP. These findings should be taken into account when interpreting neuroimaging studies especially exploring brain physiology during EP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Rampino
- University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy; Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale Policlinico di Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124, Bari, Italy
| | - Silvia Torretta
- University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Rizzo
- University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Giovanna Viscanti
- University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Tiziana Quarto
- University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Barbara Gelao
- University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Leonardo Fazio
- IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy
| | - Maria Teresa Attrotto
- University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Rita Masellis
- University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Giulio Pergola
- University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy
| | - Alessandro Bertolino
- University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy; Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale Policlinico di Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124, Bari, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Blasi
- University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Department of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124 Bari, Italy; Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale Policlinico di Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124, Bari, Italy.
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Attachment style: The neurobiological substrate, interaction with genetics and role in neurodevelopmental disorders risk pathways. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018; 95:515-527. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Revised: 10/28/2018] [Accepted: 11/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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Quarto T, Paparella I, De Tullio D, Viscanti G, Fazio L, Taurisano P, Romano R, Rampino A, Masellis R, Popolizio T, Selvaggi P, Pergola G, Bertolino A, Blasi G. Familial Risk and a Genome-Wide Supported DRD2 Variant for Schizophrenia Predict Lateral Prefrontal-Amygdala Effective Connectivity During Emotion Processing. Schizophr Bull 2018; 44:834-843. [PMID: 28981847 PMCID: PMC6007415 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbx128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
The brain functional mechanisms translating genetic risk into emotional symptoms in schizophrenia (SCZ) may include abnormal functional integration between areas key for emotion processing, such as the amygdala and the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC). Indeed, investigation of these mechanisms is also complicated by emotion processing comprising different subcomponents and by disease-associated state variables. Here, our aim was to investigate the relationship between risk for SCZ and effective connectivity between the amygdala and the LPFC during different subcomponents of emotion processing. Thus, we first characterized with dynamic causal modeling (DCM) physiological patterns of LPFC-amygdala effective connectivity in healthy controls (HC) during implicit and explicit emotion processing. Then, we compared DCM patterns in a subsample of HC, in patients with SCZ and in healthy siblings of patients (SIB), matched for demographics. Finally, we investigated in HC association of LPFC-amygdala effective connectivity with a genome-wide supported variant increasing genetic risk for SCZ and possibly relevant to emotion processing (DRD2 rs2514218). In HC, we found that a "bottom-up" amygdala-to-LPFC pattern during implicit processing and a "top-down" LPFC-to-amygdala pattern during explicit processing were the most likely directional models of effective connectivity. Differently, implicit emotion processing in SIB, SCZ, and HC homozygous for the SCZ risk rs2514218 C allele was associated with decreased probability for the "bottom-up" as well as with increased probability for the "top-down" model. These findings suggest that task-specific anomaly in the directional flow of information or disconnection between the amygdala and the LPFC is a good candidate endophenotype of SCZ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiziana Quarto
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy,Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Isabella Paparella
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
| | - Davide De Tullio
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
| | - Giovanna Viscanti
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
| | - Leonardo Fazio
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
| | - Paolo Taurisano
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
| | - Raffaella Romano
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
| | - Antonio Rampino
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
| | - Rita Masellis
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
| | - Teresa Popolizio
- IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza”, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
| | - Pierluigi Selvaggi
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy,Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Giulio Pergola
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
| | - Alessandro Bertolino
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Blasi
- Psychiatric Neuroscience Group, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy,To whom correspondence should be addressed; tel: +390 8055 93629; fax: +390 8055 93204; e-mail:
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Abstract
Inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) is a shared action believed to be involved in the regulation of behavior by psychoactive drugs such as antipsychotics and mood stabilizers. However, little is known about the identity of the substrates through which GSK3β affects behavior. We identified fragile X mental retardation-related protein 1 (FXR1P), a RNA binding protein associated to genetic risk for schizophrenia, as a substrate for GSK3β. Phosphorylation of FXR1P by GSK3β is facilitated by prior phosphorylation by ERK2 and leads to its down-regulation. In contrast, behaviorally effective chronic mood stabilizer treatments in mice inhibit GSK3β and increase FXR1P levels. In line with this, overexpression of FXR1P in the mouse prefrontal cortex also leads to comparable mood-related responses. Furthermore, functional genetic polymorphisms affecting either FXR1P or GSK3β gene expression interact to regulate emotional brain responsiveness and stability in humans. These observations uncovered a GSK3β/FXR1P signaling pathway that contributes to regulating mood and emotion processing. Regulation of FXR1P by GSK3β also provides a mechanistic framework that may explain how inhibition of GSK3β can contribute to the regulation of mood by psychoactive drugs in mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder. Moreover, this pathway could potentially be implicated in other biological functions, such as inflammation and cell proliferation, in which FXR1P and GSK3 are known to play a role.
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