Subregional thalamic functional connectivity abnormalities and cognitive impairments in first-episode schizophrenia

Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved..

BACKGROUND: 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.

METHODS: 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.

RESULTS: 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.

CONCLUSION: 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.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:96

Enthalten in:

Asian journal of psychiatry - 96(2024) vom: 02. Apr., Seite 104042

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Wang, Li-Na [VerfasserIn]
Lin, Shuo [VerfasserIn]
Tian, Lu [VerfasserIn]
Wu, Han [VerfasserIn]
Jin, Wen-Qing [VerfasserIn]
Wang, Wen [VerfasserIn]
Pan, Wei-Gang [VerfasserIn]
Yang, Chun-Lin [VerfasserIn]
Ren, Yan-Ping [VerfasserIn]
Ma, Xin [VerfasserIn]
Tang, Yi-Lang [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Clinical symptoms
Cognitive impairment
First-episode schizophrenia
Functional connectivity
Journal Article
Thalamic subregion

Anmerkungen:

Date Revised 14.04.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status Publisher

doi:

10.1016/j.ajp.2024.104042

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM371048982