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Zhang G, Ye X, Wang X, Lin Y, Zhu C, Pan J, Yin X, Ye M, Lv W, Tang W, Liu J, Yang X, Hui L, Zheng K. Serum total cholesterol levels associated with immediate memory performance in patients with chronic schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2023; 255:256-260. [PMID: 37060796 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2023.03.046] [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] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2023] [Indexed: 04/17/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive impairments are common in patients with schizophrenia. Changes in total cholesterol (TC) may be involved in the development of schizophrenia and associated with cognitive function. This study aimed to investigate differences in serum TC level and cognitive function between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls and explore the relationship between serum TC level and cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia. A total of 105 schizophrenia patients and 105 healthy controls were recruited. Results showed that patients with schizophrenia had significantly lower scores on the overall RBANS scale and subscales (i.e., immediate memory, language, attention, and delayed memory) than those of healthy controls. Pearson's correlation analyses showed that in patients with schizophrenia, serum TC levels were positively associated with RBANS subscale scores of immediate memory and language. Furthermore, multivariate regression analyses showed that serum TC level was positively associated with the immediate memory index in patients with schizophrenia. However, no significant association was found between serum TC level and RBANS score in the healthy control group. Our results suggest that elevated serum TC level may be related to improved cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia, especially that of immediate memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guohua Zhang
- School of Mental Health, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Affiliated Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325035, PR China.
| | - Xiaodan Ye
- The affiliated Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, PR China
| | - Xin Wang
- Center for Health Behaviours Research, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Yixuan Lin
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, PR China
| | - Cheng Zhu
- The affiliated Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, PR China
| | - Jianshe Pan
- The affiliated Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, PR China
| | - Xiaoli Yin
- The affiliated Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, PR China
| | - Minjie Ye
- The affiliated Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, PR China
| | - Wei Lv
- The affiliated Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, PR China
| | - Wei Tang
- The affiliated Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, PR China
| | - Jiahong Liu
- The affiliated Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, PR China
| | - Xue Yang
- Center for Health Behaviours Research, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Li Hui
- Institute of Mental Health, Suzhou Psychiatric Hospital, The Affiliated Guangji Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215137, PR China.
| | - Ke Zheng
- The affiliated Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, PR China.
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Wicht CA, De Pretto M, Mouthon M, Spierer L. Neural correlates of expectations-induced effects of caffeine intake on executive functions. Cortex 2022; 150:61-84. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2022.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Saarinen AIL, Huhtaniska S, Pudas J, Björnholm L, Jukuri T, Tohka J, Granö N, Barnett JH, Kiviniemi V, Veijola J, Hintsanen M, Lieslehto J. Structural and functional alterations in the brain gray matter among first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients: A multimodal meta-analysis of fMRI and VBM studies. Schizophr Res 2020; 216:14-23. [PMID: 31924374 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2019.12.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2019] [Revised: 12/20/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE We conducted a multimodal coordinate-based meta-analysis (CBMA) to investigate structural and functional brain alterations in first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients (FRs). METHODS We conducted a systematic literature search from electronic databases to find studies that examined differences between FRs and healthy controls using whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) or voxel-based morphometry (VBM). A CBMA of 30 fMRI (754 FRs; 959 controls) and 11 VBM (885 FRs; 775 controls) datasets were conducted using the anisotropic effect-size version of signed differential mapping. Further, we conducted separate meta-analyses about functional alterations in different cognitive tasks: social cognition, executive functioning, working memory, and inhibitory control. RESULTS FRs showed higher fMRI activation in the right frontal gyrus during cognitive tasks than healthy controls. In VBM studies, there were no differences in gray matter density between FRs and healthy controls. Furthermore, multi-modal meta-analysis obtained no differences between FRs and healthy controls. By utilizing the BrainMap database, we showed that the brain region which showed functional alterations in FRs (i) overlapped only slightly with the brain regions that were affected in the meta-analysis of schizophrenia patients and (ii) correlated positively with the brain regions that exhibited increased activity during cognitive tasks in healthy individuals. CONCLUSIONS Based on this meta-analysis, FRs may exhibit only minor functional alterations in the brain during cognitive tasks, and the alterations are much more restricted and only slightly overlapping with the regions that are affected in schizophrenia patients. The familial risk did not relate to structural alterations in the gray matter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aino I L Saarinen
- Research Unit of Psychology, University of Oulu, Finland; Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland; Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland.
| | - Sanna Huhtaniska
- Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Finland
| | - Juho Pudas
- Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland
| | - Lassi Björnholm
- Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland
| | - Tuomas Jukuri
- Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland
| | - Jussi Tohka
- A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Niklas Granö
- Helsinki University Hospital, Department of Adolescent Psychiatry, Finland
| | - Jennifer H Barnett
- Cambridge Cognition, Cambridge, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Vesa Kiviniemi
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
| | - Juha Veijola
- Research Unit of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu, Finland; Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; Medical Research Center Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | | | - Johannes Lieslehto
- Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Finland; Section for Neurodiagnostic Applications, Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig Maximilian University, Nussbaumstrasse 7, 80336 Munich, Bavaria, Germany
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Harave VS, Shivakumar V, Kalmady SV, Narayanaswamy JC, Varambally S, Venkatasubramanian G. Neurocognitive Impairments in Unaffected First-degree Relatives of Schizophrenia. Indian J Psychol Med 2017; 39:250-253. [PMID: 28615756 PMCID: PMC5461832 DOI: 10.4103/0253-7176.207335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [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] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Neurocognitive impairments of attention and executive functioning are trait abnormalities in schizophrenia, and these are considered to be endophenotypes. These deficits have been convincingly linked to prefrontal cortical functioning. In this study, we examined the cognitive performance in the domains of attention and executive functioning among first-degree relatives of Indian people with schizophrenia (high-risk [HR] patients) compared to healthy controls (HC). MATERIALS AND METHODS Siblings of patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia, HR patients (n = 17), were compared with HC (n = 30) (matched as a group for age, sex, years of education, and handedness) using the following neurocognitive tests for attention and executive function - digit span test (DST), trail making test, letter-number sequencing (LNS), and spatial span test. RESULTS HR patients had significantly deficient performance in attention and executive function tasks (DST-forward [P < 0.001], DST-backward [P < 0.001], spatial span-forward [P < 0.001], spatial span-backward [P < 0.001], and LNS [P < 0.001]). CONCLUSIONS This study replicates the findings that neurocognitive deficits involving executive function task performance, attention, and working memory, which are considered as principal features in patients with schizophrenia, are also significantly present in the first-degree relatives of patients. Thus, these neurocognitive parameters can be considered as potential endophenotypes in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virupaksha Shanmugam Harave
- Department of Psychiatry, Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, The Schizophrenia Clinic, Neurobiology Research Centre, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| | - Venkataram Shivakumar
- Department of Psychiatry, Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, The Schizophrenia Clinic, Neurobiology Research Centre, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| | - Sunil V Kalmady
- Department of Psychiatry, Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, The Schizophrenia Clinic, Neurobiology Research Centre, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| | - Janardhanan C Narayanaswamy
- Department of Psychiatry, Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, The Schizophrenia Clinic, Neurobiology Research Centre, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| | - Shivarama Varambally
- Department of Psychiatry, Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, The Schizophrenia Clinic, Neurobiology Research Centre, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| | - Ganesan Venkatasubramanian
- Department of Psychiatry, Translational Psychiatry Laboratory, The Schizophrenia Clinic, Neurobiology Research Centre, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
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Scognamiglio C, Houenou J. A meta-analysis of fMRI studies in healthy relatives of patients with schizophrenia. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2014; 48:907-16. [PMID: 24972603 DOI: 10.1177/0004867414540753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Genetically at-risk yet healthy relatives of patients with schizophrenia, sharing an important part of the genetic susceptibility to the disease, allow the study of neuroimaging endophenotypes. The aim of our study was to perform a meta-analysis of whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies that compared adult healthy relatives of patients with schizophrenia and controls. METHODS Twenty-one whole-brain fMRI studies were included (17 using cognitive tasks and four using emotional tasks), published between 2003 and 2013. These studies included 467 healthy relatives of patients with schizophrenia and 768 controls. To conduct the statistical analysis, we used the effect-size signed differential mapping software, a voxel-based meta-analytic approach. RESULTS In healthy relatives of patients with schizophrenia, we observed a general pattern of overactivation across the 21 fMRI studies in right-sided frontal, parietal and temporal regions compared to controls. This pattern was accompanied by an underactivation in the cingulate gyrus. Our analyses showed a very similar pattern during purely cognitive tasks; during emotional tasks, healthy relatives additionally overactivated the left parahippocampal gyrus. CONCLUSIONS This fMRI pattern of prefrontal overactivation and hypoactivation of the cingulate gyrus may represent a candidate endophenotype for schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Scognamiglio
- Paris Ile de France Ouest Medical School, Université Versailles Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, Versailles, France
| | - Josselin Houenou
- UNIACT, NeuroSpin, I2BM, CEA Saclay, Gif-Sur-Yvette, France INSERM U955, Equipe 15 'Psychiatrie Génétique', Créteil, France Fondation Fondamental, Créteil, France AP-HP, Hôpitaux Universitaires Mondor, Pôle de Psychiatrie, Créteil, France
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Sepede G, Spano MC, Lorusso M, Berardis DD, Salerno RM, Giannantonio MD, Gambi F. Sustained attention in psychosis: Neuroimaging findings. World J Radiol 2014; 6:261-273. [PMID: 24976929 PMCID: PMC4072813 DOI: 10.4329/wjr.v6.i6.261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2013] [Revised: 02/07/2014] [Accepted: 05/16/2014] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
To provide a systematic review of scientific literature on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies on sustained attention in psychosis. We searched PubMed to identify fMRI studies pertaining sustained attention in both affective and non-affective psychosis. Only studies conducted on adult patients using a sustained attention task during fMRI scanning were included in the final review. The search was conducted on September 10th, 2013. 15 fMRI studies met our inclusion criteria: 12 studies were focused on Schizophrenia and 3 on Bipolar Disorder Type I (BDI). Only half of the Schizophrenia studies and two of the BDI studies reported behavioral abnormalities, but all of them evidenced significant functional differences in brain regions related to the sustained attention system. Altered functioning of the insula was found in both Schizophrenia and BDI, and therefore proposed as a candidate trait marker for psychosis in general. On the other hand, other brain regions were differently impaired in affective and non-affective psychosis: alterations of cingulate cortex and thalamus seemed to be more common in Schizophrenia and amygdala dysfunctions in BDI. Neural correlates of sustained attention seem to be of great interest in the study of psychosis, highlighting differences and similarities between Schizophrenia and BDI.
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Smieskova R, Marmy J, Schmidt A, Bendfeldt K, Riecher-Rӧssler A, Walter M, Lang UE, Borgwardt S. Do subjects at clinical high risk for psychosis differ from those with a genetic high risk?--A systematic review of structural and functional brain abnormalities. Curr Med Chem 2014; 20:467-81. [PMID: 23157639 PMCID: PMC3580804 DOI: 10.2174/0929867311320030018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2012] [Revised: 10/25/2012] [Accepted: 10/30/2012] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Pre-psychotic and early psychotic characteristics are investigated in the high-risk (HR) populations for psychosis. There are two different approaches based either on hereditary factors (genetic high risk, G-HR) or on the clinically manifested symptoms (clinical high risk, C-HR). Common features are an increased risk for development of psychosis and similar cognitive as well as structural and functional brain abnormalities. Methods: We reviewed the existing literature on longitudinal structural, and on functional imaging studies, which included G-HR and/or C-HR individuals for psychosis, healthy controls (HC) and/or first episode of psychosis (FEP) or schizophrenia patients (SCZ). Results: With respect to structural brain abnormalities, vulnerability to psychosis was associated with deficits in frontal, temporal, and cingulate regions in HR, with additional insular and caudate deficits in C-HR population. Furthermore, C-HR had progressive prefrontal deficits related to the transition to psychosis. With respect to functional brain abnormalities, vulnerability to psychosis was associated with prefrontal, cingulate and middle temporal abnormalities in HR, with additional parietal, superior temporal, and insular abnormalities in C-HR population. Transition-to-psychosis related differences emphasized prefrontal, hippocampal and striatal components, more often detectable in C-HR population. Multimodal studies directly associated psychotic symptoms displayed in altered prefrontal and hippocampal activations with striatal dopamine and thalamic glutamate functions. Conclusion: There is an evidence for similar structural and functional brain abnormalities within the whole HR population, with more pronounced deficits in the C-HR population. The most consistent evidence for abnormality in the prefrontal cortex reported in structural, functional and multimodal studies of HR population may underlie the complexity of higher cognitive functions that are impaired during HR mental state for psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Smieskova
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Basel, c/o University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 4, Basel 4031, Switzerland.
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Diwadkar VA, Bakshi N, Gupta G, Pruitt P, White R, Eickhoff SB. Dysfunction and Dysconnection in Cortical-Striatal Networks during Sustained Attention: Genetic Risk for Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder and its Impact on Brain Network Function. Front Psychiatry 2014; 5:50. [PMID: 24847286 PMCID: PMC4023040 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2013] [Accepted: 04/28/2014] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Abnormalities in the brain's attention network may represent early identifiable neurobiological impairments in individuals at increased risk for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Here, we provide evidence of dysfunctional regional and network function in adolescents at higher genetic risk for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder [henceforth higher risk (HGR)]. During fMRI, participants engaged in a sustained attention task with variable demands. The task alternated between attention (120 s), visual control (passive viewing; 120 s), and rest (20 s) epochs. Low and high demand attention conditions were created using the rapid presentation of two- or three-digit numbers. Subjects were required to detect repeated presentation of numbers. We demonstrate that the recruitment of cortical and striatal regions are disordered in HGR: relative to typical controls (TC), HGR showed lower recruitment of the dorsal prefrontal cortex, but higher recruitment of the superior parietal cortex. This imbalance was more dramatic in the basal ganglia. There, a group by task demand interaction was observed, such that increased attention demand led to increased engagement in TC, but disengagement in HGR. These activation studies were complemented by network analyses using dynamic causal modeling. Competing model architectures were assessed across a network of cortical-striatal regions, distinguished at a second level using random-effects Bayesian model selection. In the winning architecture, HGR were characterized by significant reductions in coupling across both frontal-striatal and frontal-parietal pathways. The effective connectivity analyses indicate emergent network dysconnection, consistent with findings in patients with schizophrenia. Emergent patterns of regional dysfunction and dysconnection in cortical-striatal pathways may provide functional biological signatures in the adolescent risk-state for psychiatric illness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vaibhav A Diwadkar
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University , Detroit, MI , USA
| | - Neil Bakshi
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University , Detroit, MI , USA
| | - Gita Gupta
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University , Detroit, MI , USA
| | - Patrick Pruitt
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University , Detroit, MI , USA
| | - Richard White
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University , Detroit, MI , USA
| | - Simon B Eickhoff
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf , Düsseldorf , Germany ; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Center Jülich , Jülich , Germany
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Pradhan B, Derle SG. Comparison of effect of Gayatri Mantra and Poem Chanting on Digit Letter Substitution Task. Anc Sci Life 2013; 32:89-92. [PMID: 24167333 PMCID: PMC3807963 DOI: 10.4103/0257-7941.118540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
CONTEXT Attention is one of the components to enhance academic excellence. Traditional techniques were included in Indian schools to develop mental faculties with a view to add value to the latter. AIM The aim was to evaluate the effects of Gayatri mantra (GM) chanting on attention as measured by digit-letter substitution task (DLST). SETTINGS AND DESIGN School setting and self as control study design. MATERIALS AND METHODS Subjects consisted of 60 school students included (boys = 30 and girls = 30) in the age range of 12-14 years, who were trained for chanting GM for 5 days. They were assessed on DLST immediately before and after two sessions (i) GM chanting (10 min) and (ii) Poem line (PL) chanting with an equal duration (10 min). Fifty percent of participants performed GM chanting and remaining on the PL recitation on day 6. The orders of the sessions were reversed on day 7. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED Repeated measure analysis of variance with Bonferroni adjustment used. RESULTS Both sessions showed significant improvement in the total and net score of DLST. The magnitude of net score improvement was greater after GM (21.67%) compared to PL (4.85%). Female group had found better performance following GM compared to PL chanting. CONCLUSIONS Both GM and PL led to improvement in performance, as assessed by DLST. But the influence of GM had significantly higher than PL in net score of female group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Balaram Pradhan
- Division of Humanities and Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anushandhana Samsthana, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
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Altered cerebral response during cognitive control: a potential indicator of genetic liability for schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology 2013; 38:846-53. [PMID: 23299932 PMCID: PMC3671987 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2012.250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Aberrant activity in brain regions underlying various aspects of executive cognition has been reported in patients with schizophrenia and in their healthy relatives, suggesting an association with genetic liability. The aim of this study was to investigate brain responses to selective aspects of cognitive control in unaffected siblings who are at increased genetic risk of schizophrenia. Altogether, 65 non-affected siblings, 70 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and 235 normal controls participated in this study. Blood-oxygen-level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging was conducted while participants performed a cognitive control task ('flanker task') to identify brain activity and connectivity associated with response inhibition and conflict monitoring, and suppression. Behaviorally, similar to patients with schizophrenia, siblings were less accurate when inhibiting prepotent responses relative to normal controls. During response inhibition, again similar to patients with schizophrenia, siblings showed decreased activity in the anterior cingulate (ACC), along with increased functional coupling with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) when compared to normal controls. Our findings show altered ACC activity and PFC connectivity in unaffected siblings and patients with schizophrenia during response inhibition. These results suggest that such changes in the neural activity underlying aspects of cognitive control may represent a potential intermediate phenotype for the investigation of the genetic basis of schizophrenia.
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Byun MS, Kim JS, Jung WH, Jang JH, Choi JS, Kim SN, Choi CH, Chung CK, An SK, Kwon JS. Regional cortical thinning in subjects with high genetic loading for schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2012; 141:197-203. [PMID: 22998933 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2012.08.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2011] [Revised: 07/31/2012] [Accepted: 08/27/2012] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Although recent studies have revealed regional cortical thinning in patients with schizophrenia, it is not clear whether cortical thinning reflects a genetic liability for schizophrenia. The present study investigated the change of cortical thickness in subjects at genetic high risk (GHR) for schizophrenia with a relatively high genetic loading compared with healthy controls (HC) and patients with schizophrenia. The effect of genetic loading on cortical thinning was also measured by comparing GHR subgroups according to the levels of genetic loading. METHODS Cortical thickness was measured by the Constrained Laplacian-based Automated Segmentation with Proximities algorithm using 1.5-T structural MRI scans. The cortical thickness of the subjects at GHR (n=31) was compared with that of HC (n=29) and patients with schizophrenia (n=31). We then compared the cortical thickness of the GHR subgroups according to the number of first-degree relatives with schizophrenia to measure the effect of genetic loading. RESULTS Relative to HC, GHR subjects showed significant cortical thinning in the right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), left paracingulate and posterior cingulate regions; bilateral frontal regions including frontal pole and ventromedial prefrontal cortex; bilateral temporal regions including the left parahippocampal gyrus; and bilateral inferior parietal and occipital regions; however, patients with schizophrenia showed more widespread cortical thinning in the fronto-temporo-parietal region. GHR subjects who had two or more first-degree relatives with schizophrenia showed a greater reduction in cortical thickness in the right ACC and in the left paracingulate cortex than did those who had only one first-degree relative with schizophrenia. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that the level of genetic loading may have a dose-dependent effect on cortical thinning in the right ACC and in the left paracingulate cortex and that cortical thinning in GHR subjects may represent neurodevelopmental alterations that result from genetic liability for schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Soo Byun
- Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
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Thimm M, Kircher T, Kellermann T, Markov V, Krach S, Jansen A, Zerres K, Eggermann T, Stöcker T, Shah NJ, Nöthen MM, Rietschel M, Witt SH, Mathiak K, Krug A. Effects of a CACNA1C genotype on attention networks in healthy individuals. Psychol Med 2011; 41:1551-1561. [PMID: 21078228 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291710002217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent genetic studies found the A allele of the variant rs1006737 in the alpha 1C subunit of the L-type voltage-gated calcium channel (CACNA1C) gene to be over-represented in patients with psychosis, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. In these disorders, attention deficits are among the main cognitive symptoms and have been related to altered neural activity in cerebral attention networks. The particular effect of CACNA1C on neural function, such as attention networks, remains to be elucidated. METHOD The current event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated the effect of the CACNA1C gene on brain activity in 80 subjects while performing a scanner-adapted version of the Attention Network Test (ANT). Three domains of attention were probed simultaneously: alerting, orienting and executive control of attention. RESULTS Risk allele carriers showed impaired performance in alerting and orienting in addition to reduced neural activity in the right inferior parietal lobule [Brodmann area (BA) 40] during orienting and in the medial frontal gyrus (BA 8) during executive control of attention. These areas belong to networks that have been related to impaired orienting and executive control mechanisms in neuropsychiatric disorders. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that CACNA1C plays a role in the development of specific attention deficits in psychiatric disorders by modulation of neural attention networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Thimm
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
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Goghari VM. Executive functioning-related brain abnormalities associated with the genetic liability for schizophrenia: an activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis. Psychol Med 2011; 41:1239-1252. [PMID: 20942994 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291710001972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Relatives of schizophrenia patients demonstrate abnormalities in prefrontal cortical activation during executive processing as measured by functional neuroimaging, albeit not consistently. A meta-analysis was conducted to determine whether reliable patterns of brain hypo- and hyperactivity, especially in the middle frontal region, were present in the relatives of patients. METHOD Seventeen studies, containing 18 samples of relatives and controls, were included in this meta-analysis. Studies were included if relatives of schizophrenia patients were compared to controls, an executive processing task was used, and standard space coordinates were reported for the functional activations. Activation likelihood estimation (ALE) was implemented to find convergence across functional neuroimaging experiment coordinates. A separate analysis was conducted to assess the potential impact of a priori hypothesis testing used in region-of-interest (ROI) approaches on the meta-analysis results. RESULTS Relatives demonstrated hypo- and hyperactivity in statistically overlapping right middle frontal regions [Brodmann area (BA) 9/10]. Use of an ROI analysis that a priori focused on prefrontal regions resulted in more findings of reduced activity in the middle frontal region. CONCLUSIONS The cortical regions identified by this meta-analysis could potentially serve as intermediate biological markers in the search for candidate genes for schizophrenia. As neurocognitive deficits are related to functional impairments in patients, a better understanding of neural and genetic vulnerabilities would be beneficial in our efforts to remediate these important deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- V M Goghari
- Department of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
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Waters-Metenier SL, Toulopoulou T. Qualifying brain functional MRI parameters as endophenotypes in schizophrenia. FUTURE NEUROLOGY 2010. [DOI: 10.2217/fnl.10.68] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Although the genetic contribution to schizophrenia pathogenesis has been well established, with an approximate heritability of 81%, the endeavor to elucidate the complex genetic architecture of schizophrenia has met limited success. ‘Endophenotypes’, or ‘intermediate phenotypes’, are more restricted constructs of genetic risk than the clinical manifestations hitherto employed by molecular geneticists. They are, putatively, intermediate in the pathophysiological pathway between genetic variation and clinical phenomenology and can possibly be used to assist in the elucidation of genetic diathesis for schizophrenia. In this article, we present the current evidence that supports functional MRI parameters as promising candidate endophenotypes in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheena Lindsey Waters-Metenier
- Department of Psychosis Studies, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF, UK
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Thimm M, Krug A, Kellermann T, Markov V, Krach S, Jansen A, Zerres K, Eggermann T, Stöcker T, Shah NJ, Nöthen MM, Rietschel M, Kircher T. The effects of a DTNBP1 gene variant on attention networks: an fMRI study. Behav Brain Funct 2010; 6:54. [PMID: 20846375 PMCID: PMC2949706 DOI: 10.1186/1744-9081-6-54] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2010] [Accepted: 09/16/2010] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Attention deficits belong to the main cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia and come along with altered neural activity in previously described cerebral networks. Given the high heritability of schizophrenia the question arises if impaired function of these networks is modulated by susceptibility genes and detectable in healthy risk allele carriers. METHODS The present event-related fMRI study investigated the effect of the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1018381 of the DTNBP1 (dystrobrevin-binding protein 1) gene on brain activity in 80 subjects while performing the attention network test (ANT). In this reaction time task three domains of attention are probed simultaneously: alerting, orienting and executive control of attention. RESULTS Risk allele carriers showed impaired performance in the executive control condition associated with reduced neural activity in the left superior frontal gyrus [Brodmann area (BA) 9]. Risk allele carriers did not show alterations in the alerting and orienting networks. CONCLUSIONS BA 9 is a key region of schizophrenia pathology and belongs to a network that has been shown previously to be involved in impaired executive control mechanisms in schizophrenia. Our results identified the impact of DTNBP1 on the development of a specific attention deficit via modulation of a left prefrontal network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Thimm
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
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Costain G, Ho A, Crawley AP, Mikulis DJ, Brzustowicz LM, Chow EW, Bassett AS. Reduced gray matter in the anterior cingulate gyrus in familial schizophrenia: a preliminary report. Schizophr Res 2010; 122:81-4. [PMID: 20638248 PMCID: PMC3129334 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2010.06.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2010] [Revised: 06/21/2010] [Accepted: 06/22/2010] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Few brain imaging studies of schizophrenia involve samples with enhanced genetic homogeneity. We compared MRI volumetric data between individuals with 1q21-q23 linked familial schizophrenia associated with NOS1AP and their first and second degree unaffected relatives. We found significant gray matter reductions in the anterior cingulate gyrus in both affected individuals and their unaffected first degree relatives when compared with their unaffected second degree relatives. These results suggest that the changes are primarily due to genetic risk and not illness effects, and may represent an intermediate phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory Costain
- Clinical Genetics Research Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andrew Ho
- Clinical Genetics Research Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Adrian P. Crawley
- Department of Medical Imaging, Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - David J. Mikulis
- Department of Medical Imaging, Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Eva W.C. Chow
- Clinical Genetics Research Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Anne S. Bassett
- Clinical Genetics Research Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,Corresponding author. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2S1. Tel.: +1 416 535 8501x2731; fax: +1 416 535 7199. (A.S. Bassett)
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Sepede G, Ferretti A, Perrucci MG, Gambi F, Di Donato F, Nuccetelli F, Del Gratta C, Tartaro A, Salerno RM, Ferro FM, Romani GL. Altered brain response without behavioral attention deficits in healthy siblings of schizophrenic patients: an event-related fMRI study. Neuroimage 2009; 49:1080-90. [PMID: 19646537 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.07.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2009] [Revised: 07/10/2009] [Accepted: 07/21/2009] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Attention deficits are common in schizophrenics and sometimes reported in their healthy relatives. The aim of this study was to analyse the behavioural performance and the brain activation of healthy siblings of schizophrenic patients during a sustained-attention task. Eleven healthy siblings of schizophrenic patients and eleven matched controls performed a Continuous Performance Test (CPT), during 1.5 T fMRI. The stimuli were presented at three difficulty-levels, using different degrees of degradation (0, 25 and 40%). There were no significant differences in CPT performance (mean reaction time and percentage of errors) between the two groups. Performance worsened with increasing degradation in both groups. Differences were found when comparing the BOLD signal change in the medial frontal gyrus/dorsal anterior cingulate, right precentral gyrus, bilateral posterior cingulate and bilateral insula. The most evident between group differences were observed in the left insula/inferior frontal gyrus: siblings showed a larger activation during wrong responses and a reduced activation during correct responses in the degraded runs. In conclusion, healthy siblings of schizophrenic patients showed differences in brain function in several brain regions previously reported in schizophrenic subjects, in the absence of behavioral attention deficits. The differences were greater in the two more difficult levels of attention demand and might be expressions of altered and/or compensatory mechanisms in subjects at increased risk for schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianna Sepede
- Department of Clinical Sciences and Bio-imaging, G. D'Annunzio University of Chieti, Via dei Vestini 33, Chieti Scalo (CH), Italy.
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