Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Neuroscience, Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China; Center for Neuroimaging, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen, China; Cognitive Neuroscience Center, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Cognitive Neuroscience Center, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Schizophr Res. 2019 Jun;208:353-359. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2019.01.023. Epub 2019 Jan 31.
Social amotivation is a core element of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. However, it is still largely unknown which neural substrates underpin social amotivation in people with schizophrenia, though deficiencies in the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system have been proposed.
We examined the association between social amotivation and substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area-seeded intrinsic connectivity in 84 people with schizophrenia using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Spontaneous fluctuations of midbrain dopaminergic regions were positively associated with striatal and prefrontal fluctuations in people with schizophrenia. Most importantly, social amotivation was negatively associated with functional connectivity between the midbrain's substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area and medial- and lateral prefrontal cortex, the temporoparietal junction, and dorsal and ventral striatum. These associations were observed independently of depressive and positive symptoms.
Our findings suggest that social amotivation in people with schizophrenia is associated with altered intrinsic connectivity of mesocorticolimbic pathways linked to cognitive control and reward processing. Dysconnectivity of dopaminergic neuronal ensembles that are fundamental to approach behavior and motivation may help explain the lack of initiative social behavior in people with social amotivation.
社交动力缺乏是精神分裂症阴性症状的核心要素。然而，尽管有人提出中脑边缘多巴胺系统存在缺陷，但社交动力缺乏在精神分裂症患者中的哪些神经基础仍知之甚少。
我们使用静息态功能磁共振成像技术，在 84 名精神分裂症患者中研究了社交动力缺乏与黑质/腹侧被盖区种子内在连通性之间的关联。
精神分裂症患者中脑多巴胺能区域的自发波动与纹状体和前额叶的波动呈正相关。最重要的是，社交动力缺乏与中脑黑质/腹侧被盖区与内侧和外侧前额叶皮质、颞顶联合区以及背侧和腹侧纹状体之间的功能连接呈负相关。这些关联独立于抑郁和阳性症状存在。
我们的研究结果表明，精神分裂症患者的社交动力缺乏与与认知控制和奖励处理相关的中脑边缘通路的内在连通性改变有关。对多巴胺能神经元集合的连接中断，这些神经元集合对趋近行为和动机至关重要，可能有助于解释社交动力缺乏患者缺乏主动社交行为的原因。
