Functional connectivity as a means to delineate differences between treatment-resistant and treatment-responsive schizophrenia.

It has been estimated that one-third of schizophrenia patients are treatment resistant (TRS). Recent studies have shown that functional connectivity (FC) can be used for measuring connections between brain regions in diseased states. White, Wigton, Joyce, Collier, Fornito, and Shergill (Neuropsychopharmacology First published September 9, 2015; doi:10.1038/npp.2015.277) used FC to identify differences between schizophrenia patients responding to antipsychotic treatment and TRS patients. Their results support the idea that the groups differ not only in treatment response but also neurophysiologically through differences in FC.