Wang Li-Na, Lin Shuo, Tian Lu, Wu Han, Jin Wen-Qing, Wang Wen, Pan Wei-Gang, Yang Chun-Lin, Ren Yan-Ping, Ma Xin, Tang Yi-Lang
The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Asian J Psychiatr. 2024 Jun;96:104042. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2024.104042. Epub 2024 Apr 2.
Previous studies have documented thalamic functional connectivity (FC) abnormalities in schizophrenia, typically examining the thalamus as a whole. The specific link between subregional thalamic FC and cognitive deficits in first-episode schizophrenia (FES) remains unexplored.
Using data from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, we compared whole-brain FC with thalamic subregions between patients and HCs, and analyzed FC changes in drug-naïve patients separately. We then examined correlations between FC abnormalities with both cognitive impairment and clinical symptoms.
A total of 33 FES patients (20 drug-naïve) and 32 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) were included. Compared to HCs, FES patients exhibited increased FC between specific thalamic subregions and cortical regions, particularly bilateral middle temporal lobe and cuneus gyrus, left medial superior frontal gyrus, and right inferior/superior occipital gyrus. Decreased FC was observed between certain thalamic subregions and the left inferior frontal triangle. These findings were largely consistent in drug-naïve patients. Notably, deficits in social cognition and visual learning in FES patients correlated with increased FC between certain thalamic subregions and cortical regions involving the right superior occipital gyrus and cuneus gyrus. The severity of negative symptoms was associated with increased FC between a thalamic subregion and the left middle temporal gyrus.
Our findings suggest FC abnormalities between thalamic subregions and cortical areas in FES patients. Increased FC correlated with cognitive deficits and negative symptoms, highlighting the importance of thalamo-cortical connectivity in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
先前的研究已记录了精神分裂症患者丘脑功能连接（FC）异常，通常将丘脑作为一个整体进行研究。首发精神分裂症（FES）患者丘脑亚区FC与认知缺陷之间的具体联系仍未得到探索。
利用静息态功能磁共振成像数据，我们比较了患者与健康对照（HCs）之间全脑FC与丘脑亚区的情况，并分别分析了未用药患者的FC变化。然后，我们研究了FC异常与认知障碍和临床症状之间的相关性。
共纳入33例FES患者（20例未用药）和32例年龄及性别匹配的健康对照（HCs）。与HCs相比，FES患者在特定丘脑亚区与皮质区域之间表现出FC增加，特别是双侧颞中回和楔叶、左侧额上回内侧以及右侧枕下回/枕上回。在某些丘脑亚区与左侧额下回三角之间观察到FC降低。这些发现在未用药患者中基本一致。值得注意的是，FES患者的社会认知和视觉学习缺陷与某些丘脑亚区和涉及右侧枕上回及楔叶的皮质区域之间FC增加相关。阴性症状的严重程度与丘脑一个亚区和左侧颞中回之间的FC增加有关。
我们的研究结果表明FES患者丘脑亚区与皮质区域之间存在FC异常。FC增加与认知缺陷和阴性症状相关，突出了丘脑 - 皮质连接在精神分裂症病理生理学中的重要性。
