Hayward Nicholas Mark Edward Alexander, Triana Ana María, Panula Jonatan M, Kieseppä Tuula, Suvisaari Jaana, Raij Tuukka T
Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, Espoo, FI-00076, Finland.
Department of Computer Science, Aalto University, P.O. Box 15400, Espoo, FI-00076, Finland.
Schizophrenia (Heidelb). 2023 Mar 14;9(1):15. doi: 10.1038/s41537-023-00339-y.
Pathogenic understanding of the psychotic disorders converges on regulation of dopaminergic signaling in mesostriatocortical pathways. Functional connectivity of the mesostriatal pathways may inform us of the neuronal networks involved.
This longitudinal study of first episode psychosis (FEP) (49 patients, 43 controls) employed seed-based functional connectivity analyses of fMRI data collected during a naturalistic movie stimulus.
We identified hypoconnectivity of the dorsal striatum with the midbrain, associated with antipsychotic medication dose in FEP, in comparison with the healthy control group. The midbrain regions that showed hypoconnectivity with the dorsal striatum also showed hypoconnectivity with cerebellar regions suggested to be involved in regulation of the mesostriatocortical dopaminergic pathways. None of the baseline hypoconnectivity detected was seen at follow-up.
These findings extend earlier resting state findings on mesostriatal connectivity in psychotic disorders and highlight the potential for cerebellar regulation of the mesostriatocortical pathways as a target of treatment trials.
对精神障碍的致病理解聚焦于中脑纹状体皮质通路中多巴胺能信号的调节。中脑纹状体通路的功能连接性或许能让我们了解其中涉及的神经网络。
这项针对首发精神病（FEP）（49例患者，43名对照）的纵向研究，采用了基于种子点的功能连接性分析，对在自然主义电影刺激期间收集的功能磁共振成像（fMRI）数据进行分析。
与健康对照组相比，我们发现首发精神病患者背侧纹状体与中脑之间存在连接减弱，且与抗精神病药物剂量相关。与背侧纹状体连接减弱的中脑区域，与被认为参与中脑纹状体皮质多巴胺能通路调节的小脑区域之间也存在连接减弱。随访时未发现基线时检测到的连接减弱情况。
这些发现扩展了早期关于精神障碍中脑纹状体连接性的静息态研究结果，并突出了小脑对中脑纹状体皮质通路调节作为治疗试验靶点的潜力。
