Chang Liu1, Zhimin Xue2, Lena Palaniyappan3, Li Zhou1, Haihong Liu4, Chang Qi1, Guowei Wu1, Tumbwene E Mwansisya5, Haojuan Tao1, Xudong Chen1, Xiaojun Huang1, Zhening Liu2, Weidan Pu6. 1. Mental Health Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China; The China National Clinical Research Center for Mental Health Disorders, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, 139 Middle Renmin Road, Changsha, Hunan 410011, People's Republic of China. 2. Mental Health Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China; State Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China; The China National Clinical Research Center for Mental Health Disorders, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, 139 Middle Renmin Road, Changsha, Hunan 410011, People's Republic of China. 3. Departments of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Medical Biophysics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. 4. Mental Health Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China. 5. Mental Health Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China; College of Health Sciences, University of Dodoma, P.O. Box 395, Dodoma, Tanzania. 6. Medical Psychological Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China; The China National Clinical Research Center for Mental Health Disorders, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, 139 Middle Renmin Road, Changsha, Hunan 410011, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: pulv1128@126.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Several resting-state neuroimaging studies in schizophrenia indicate an excessive brain activity while others report an incoherent brain activity at rest. No direct evidence for the simultaneous presence of both excessive and incoherent brain activity has been established to date. Moreover, it is unclear whether unaffected siblings of schizophrenia patients who share half of the affected patient's genotype also exhibit the excessive and incoherent brain activity that may render them vulnerable to the development of schizophrenia. METHODS: 27 pairs of schizophrenia patients and their unaffected siblings, as well as 27 healthy controls, were scanned using gradient-echo echo-planar imaging at rest. By using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (Reho), we investigated the intensity and synchronization of local spontaneous neuronal activity in three groups. RESULTS: We observed that increased amplitude and reduced synchronization (coherence) of spontaneous neuronal activity were shared by patients and their unaffected siblings. The key brain regions with this abnormal neural pattern in both patients and siblings included the middle temporal, orbito-frontal, inferior occipital and fronto-insular gyrus. CONCLUSIONS: This abnormal neural pattern of excessive and incoherent neuronal activity shared by schizophrenia patients and their healthy siblings may improve our understanding of neuropathology and genetic predisposition in schizophrenia.
BACKGROUND: Several resting-state neuroimaging studies in schizophrenia indicate an excessive brain activity while others report an incoherent brain activity at rest. No direct evidence for the simultaneous presence of both excessive and incoherent brain activity has been established to date. Moreover, it is unclear whether unaffected siblings of schizophreniapatients who share half of the affected patient's genotype also exhibit the excessive and incoherent brain activity that may render them vulnerable to the development of schizophrenia. METHODS: 27 pairs of schizophreniapatients and their unaffected siblings, as well as 27 healthy controls, were scanned using gradient-echo echo-planar imaging at rest. By using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (Reho), we investigated the intensity and synchronization of local spontaneous neuronal activity in three groups. RESULTS: We observed that increased amplitude and reduced synchronization (coherence) of spontaneous neuronal activity were shared by patients and their unaffected siblings. The key brain regions with this abnormal neural pattern in both patients and siblings included the middle temporal, orbito-frontal, inferior occipital and fronto-insular gyrus. CONCLUSIONS: This abnormal neural pattern of excessive and incoherent neuronal activity shared by schizophreniapatients and their healthy siblings may improve our understanding of neuropathology and genetic predisposition in schizophrenia.
Authors: Karola Kaefer; Hugo Malagon-Vina; Desiree D Dickerson; Joseph O'Neill; Svenja V Trossbach; Carsten Korth; Jozsef Csicsvari Journal: Hippocampus Date: 2019-02-05 Impact factor: 3.899