F Piras1, F Piras1, N Banaj1, V Ciullo1, D Vecchio1, R A E Edden2,3, G Spalletta1,4. 1. Neuropsychiatry Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy. 2. The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. 3. F.M. Kirby Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA. 4. Beth K. and Stuart C. Yudofsky Division of Neuropsychiatry, Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Defective cerebellar GABAergic inhibitory control may participate to the cognitive impairments seen in SZ. We tested the prediction of a model for the relationship between cerebellar GABA concentration and the associative/executive processes required by verbal fluency in patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and matched healthy controls (HC). METHOD: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy of GABA was performed using a 3 Tesla scanner and verbal fluency assessed by the Controlled Word (WFT) and Semantic (SFT) Fluency tests. Cerebellar GABA measurements were obtained using the MEGA-PRESS acquisition sequence. Linear correlations between cerebellar GABA levels and the WFT, SFT score were performed to test differences between correlation coefficients of SZ and HC. Quantile regressions between GABA levels and the WFT score were performed. RESULTS: Higher cerebellar GABA concentration was associated in SZ with lower phonemic fluency and reduced number of switches among subcategories as opposed to what observed in HC (with higher cerebellar GABA associated with higher number of words and phonemic switches). GABA levels explained phonemic fluency in SZ performing above the group mean. CONCLUSION: Studying cerebellar GABA provides a valid heuristic to explore the molecular mechanisms of SZ. This is crucial for developing pharmacological treatments to improve cognition and functional recovery in SZ.
OBJECTIVE: Defective cerebellar GABAergic inhibitory control may participate to the cognitive impairments seen in SZ. We tested the prediction of a model for the relationship between cerebellar GABA concentration and the associative/executive processes required by verbal fluency in patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and matched healthy controls (HC). METHOD: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy of GABA was performed using a 3 Tesla scanner and verbal fluency assessed by the Controlled Word (WFT) and Semantic (SFT) Fluency tests. Cerebellar GABA measurements were obtained using the MEGA-PRESS acquisition sequence. Linear correlations between cerebellar GABA levels and the WFT, SFT score were performed to test differences between correlation coefficients of SZ and HC. Quantile regressions between GABA levels and the WFT score were performed. RESULTS: Higher cerebellar GABA concentration was associated in SZ with lower phonemic fluency and reduced number of switches among subcategories as opposed to what observed in HC (with higher cerebellar GABA associated with higher number of words and phonemic switches). GABA levels explained phonemic fluency in SZ performing above the group mean. CONCLUSION: Studying cerebellar GABA provides a valid heuristic to explore the molecular mechanisms of SZ. This is crucial for developing pharmacological treatments to improve cognition and functional recovery in SZ.
Authors: Federica Piras; Daniela Vecchio; Francesca Assogna; Clelia Pellicano; Valentina Ciullo; Nerisa Banaj; Richard A E Edden; Francesco E Pontieri; Fabrizio Piras; Gianfranco Spalletta Journal: J Pers Med Date: 2020-12-28
Authors: Joan Jiménez-Balado; Alexandra Ycaza Herrera; Kay Igwe; Lynda Klem; Korhan Buyukturkoglu; Andrei Irimia; Liu Chen; Jia Guo; Adam M Brickman; Teal S Eich Journal: Front Behav Neurosci Date: 2021-08-26 Impact factor: 3.558
Authors: Nancy B Lundin; Peter M Todd; Michael N Jones; Johnathan E Avery; Brian F O'Donnell; William P Hetrick Journal: Schizophr Bull Open Date: 2020-04-20