Zhang Jie, Jiao Xiong, Wang Junjie, Qian Zhenying, Wang Yingchan, Tang Xiaochen, Kong Gai, Sun Junfeng, Wang Jijun, Tang Yingying
School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 600 Wanping Nan Road, Shanghai, 200030, China.
Med Biol Eng Comput. 2025 May 29. doi: 10.1007/s11517-025-03387-x.
The auditory steady-state response (ASSR) is a robust index for schizophrenia. Abnormal phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) in schizophrenia might be influenced by the confounding factors of illness stages and antipsychotic treatments. To exclude the effects of confounding factors, we examined abnormal PAC in antipsychotic-naïve patients with first-episode schizophrenia (FES) during the ASSR. 67 FES and 84 healthy controls (CON) were recruited and their EEG data were collected during the 20 Hz ASSR, 30 Hz ASSR, 40 Hz ASSR, and resting states. All the possible PAC patterns at Fz were compared between FES and CON, and the electrodes of abnormal PACs were explored. Results showed that FES had significantly higher beta-high gamma PAC at the prefrontal cortex and lower theta-low gamma PAC at the fronto-central cortex than CON during all the three ASSR blocks but not in the Resting block. FES showed lower correlations of PAC values between any two of the ASSR blocks than CON. Beta-high gamma PAC was negatively correlated with the cognitive scores of visual learning and attention, while theta-low gamma PAC was positively correlated with the score of symbol coding. Abnormal PAC of FES in specific brain regions may provide electrophysiological biomarkers for abnormal circuits.
听觉稳态反应（ASSR）是精神分裂症的一个可靠指标。精神分裂症中异常的相位-振幅耦合（PAC）可能受疾病阶段和抗精神病药物治疗等混杂因素的影响。为排除混杂因素的影响，我们在ASSR期间检查了首次发作精神分裂症（FES）且未服用过抗精神病药物患者的异常PAC。招募了67名FES患者和84名健康对照（CON），并在20Hz ASSR、30Hz ASSR、40Hz ASSR及静息状态下收集他们的脑电图数据。比较了FES组和CON组在Fz处所有可能的PAC模式，并探索了异常PAC的电极位置。结果显示，在所有三个ASSR时段而非静息时段，FES组前额叶皮质的β-高γ频段PAC显著高于CON组，额中央皮质的θ-低γ频段PAC低于CON组。FES组在任意两个ASSR时段之间的PAC值相关性低于CON组。β-高γ频段PAC与视觉学习和注意力的认知得分呈负相关，而θ-低γ频段PAC与符号编码得分呈正相关。FES患者特定脑区的异常PAC可能为异常神经回路提供电生理生物标志物。
