Translational Neuroimaging Marburg (TNM), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Germany; Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany.
Translational Neuroimaging Marburg (TNM), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Germany; Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany; Faculty of Translation, Language, and Cultural Studies, University of Mainz, Germersheim, Germany.
Schizophr Res. 2020 Feb;216:175-183. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2019.12.005. Epub 2019 Dec 24.
Integrating visual and auditory information during gesture-speech integration (GSI) is important for successful social communication, which is often impaired in schizophrenia. Several studies suggested the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) to be a relevant multisensory integration site. However, intact STS activation patterns were often reported in patients. Thus, here we used Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM) to analyze whether information processing in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) is impaired during GSI on network level. We investigated GSI in three different samples. First, we replicated a recently published connectivity model for GSI in a healthy subject group (n = 19). Second, we investigated differences between patients with SSD and a matched healthy control group (n = 17 each). Participants were presented videos of an actor performing intrinsically meaningful gestures accompanied by spoken sentences in German or Russian, or just telling a German sentence without gestures. Across all groups, fMRI analyses revealed similar activation patterns, and DCM analyses resulted in the same winning model for GSI. This finding directly replicates previous results. However, patients revealed significantly reduced connectivity in the verbal pathway (from left middle temporal gyrus (MTG) to left STS). The clinical significance of this connection is supported by its correlations with the severity of concretism and a subscale of negative symptoms (SANS). Our model confirms the importance of the pSTS as integration site during audio-visual integration. Patients showed generally intact connectivity during GSI, but revealed impaired information transfer via the verbal pathway. This might be the basis of interpersonal communication problems in patients with SSD.
在手势-语音整合（GSI）期间整合视觉和听觉信息对于成功的社会交流很重要，而这在精神分裂症中经常受到损害。几项研究表明后上颞叶（pSTS）是一个相关的多感觉整合部位。然而，患者中经常报告 STS 激活模式完整。因此，我们在这里使用动态因果建模（DCM）来分析精神分裂症谱系障碍（SSD）患者在 GSI 期间是否在网络水平上存在信息处理障碍。我们在三个不同的样本中研究了 GSI。首先，我们在健康受试者组（n=19）中复制了最近发表的 GSI 连通性模型。其次，我们研究了 SSD 患者与匹配的健康对照组（每组 n=17）之间的差异。参与者观看了演员表演具有内在意义的手势的视频，并伴有德语或俄语的说话句子，或者只是没有手势的情况下讲德语句子。在所有组中， fMRI 分析都揭示了相似的激活模式，并且 DCM 分析对于 GSI 得出了相同的获胜模型。这一发现直接复制了先前的结果。然而，患者在言语途径中表现出明显的连接减少（从左颞中回（MTG）到左 STS）。这种连接的临床意义得到了其与具体化严重程度和阴性症状子量表（SANS）的相关性的支持。我们的模型证实了 pSTS 在视听整合期间作为整合部位的重要性。患者在 GSI 期间通常具有完整的连接性，但在通过言语途径传递信息方面存在障碍。这可能是 SSD 患者人际沟通问题的基础。
