OBJECTIVE: To explore the regional homogeneity of resting state brain activity in early onset schizophrenia using functional magnetic resonance imaging. METHODS: Schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder was diagnosed according to DSM-IV-TR (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition, text revision). A total of 18 adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia (EOS; onset of psychotic symptoms by age 18) and 18 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers were tested in a resting-state fMRI scan. Regional homogeneity approach was used to analyze the functional imaging data,and statistical parametric mapping 5 (SPM5)was used to perform t-test in ReHo maps between the patients and controls. RESULTS: In comparison with the controls, the early-onset patients showed significantly decreased regional homogeneity in bilateral medial prefrontal cortex(P<0.001,uncorrected; voxel>20), but no brain regions showed significantly increased regional homogeneity in the patients. CONCLUSION: Regional homogeneity of resting state brain activities in EOS was decreased in bilateral medial prefrontal cortex. These abnormal changes may be involved in the psychopathology of schizophrenia.
OBJECTIVE: To explore the regional homogeneity of resting state brain activity in early onset schizophrenia using functional magnetic resonance imaging. METHODS:Schizophrenia or schizophreniform disorder was diagnosed according to DSM-IV-TR (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition, text revision). A total of 18 adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia (EOS; onset of psychotic symptoms by age 18) and 18 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers were tested in a resting-state fMRI scan. Regional homogeneity approach was used to analyze the functional imaging data,and statistical parametric mapping 5 (SPM5)was used to perform t-test in ReHo maps between the patients and controls. RESULTS: In comparison with the controls, the early-onset patients showed significantly decreased regional homogeneity in bilateral medial prefrontal cortex(P<0.001,uncorrected; voxel>20), but no brain regions showed significantly increased regional homogeneity in the patients. CONCLUSION: Regional homogeneity of resting state brain activities in EOS was decreased in bilateral medial prefrontal cortex. These abnormal changes may be involved in the psychopathology of schizophrenia.