Department of Psychiatry, The Third People's Hospital of Foshan, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
BMC Psychiatry. 2023 Apr 5;23(1):231. doi: 10.1186/s12888-023-04728-6.
Recently studies had showed that the amygdala may take part in the cognitive impairment in schizophrenia (SC). However, the mechanism is still unclear, so we explored the relationship between the amygdala resting state magnetic resonance imaging (rsMRI) signal and cognitive function, to provide a reference for the follow-up study.
We collected 59 drug-naïve SCs and 46 healthy controls (HCs) from the Third People's Hospital of Foshan. The rsMRI technique and automatic segmentation tool were used to extract the volume and functional indicators of the SC's amygdala. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was used to assess the severity of the disease, and the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) was used to assess cognitive function. Pearson correlation analysis was used to compare the relationship between the structural and functional indicators of the amygdala and PANSS and RBANS.
(1) There was no significant difference between SC and HC in age, gender and years of education. Compared with HC, the PANSS score of SC increased and the RBANS score decreased significantly. Meanwhile, the left amygdala volume decreased (t=-3.675, p < 0.001), and the Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (FALFF) values of bilateral amygdala increased (t=3.916, p < 0.001; t=3.131, p = 0.002). (2) The volumes of the left amygdala were negatively correlated with the PANSS score (r=-0.243, p = 0.039). While the FALFF values of the bilateral amygdala were positively correlated with the PANSS score (r=0.257, p = 0.026; r=0.259, p = 0.026). Bilateral amygdala volumes and FALFF values were positively correlated (r=0.445, p < 0.001; r=0.326, p = 0.006) and negatively correlated with RBANS score (r=-0.284, p = 0.014; r=-0.272, p = 0.020), respectively.
The abnormal volume and function of the amygdala play important roles in the disease process of SC, and are closely related to cognitive impairment.
最近的研究表明，杏仁核可能参与精神分裂症（SC）的认知障碍。然而，其机制尚不清楚，因此我们探讨了杏仁核静息态磁共振成像（rsMRI）信号与认知功能之间的关系，为后续研究提供参考。
我们从佛山市第三人民医院收集了 59 名未经药物治疗的 SC 患者和 46 名健康对照者（HCs）。使用 rsMRI 技术和自动分割工具提取 SC 杏仁核的体积和功能指标。采用阳性和阴性症状量表（PANSS）评估疾病严重程度，采用重复性成套神经心理状态测验（RBANS）评估认知功能。采用 Pearson 相关分析比较杏仁核结构和功能指标与 PANSS 和 RBANS 的关系。
（1）SC 组与 HCs 组在年龄、性别和受教育年限方面无显著差异。与 HCs 相比，SC 组的 PANSS 评分升高，RBANS 评分降低，同时左侧杏仁核体积减小（t=-3.675，p<0.001），双侧杏仁核低频振幅（FALFF）值升高（t=3.916，p<0.001；t=3.131，p=0.002）。（2）左侧杏仁核体积与 PANSS 评分呈负相关（r=-0.243，p=0.039）。而双侧杏仁核 FALFF 值与 PANSS 评分呈正相关（r=0.257，p=0.026；r=0.259，p=0.026）。双侧杏仁核体积和 FALFF 值呈正相关（r=0.445，p<0.001；r=0.326，p=0.006），与 RBANS 评分呈负相关（r=-0.284，p=0.014；r=-0.272，p=0.020）。
杏仁核的异常体积和功能在 SC 疾病过程中起重要作用，与认知障碍密切相关。
