Impaired large-scale cortico–hippocampal network connectivity, including the anterior temporal and posterior medial systems, and its associations with cognition in patients with first-episode schizophrenia

Frontiers in Neuroscience

Neuroscience

Kangkang Xue¹  Yong Zhang¹  Jingliang Cheng¹  Jingli Chen¹  Yarui Wei¹  Yuan Chen¹  Shaoqiang Han¹  Caihong Wang¹  Xueqin Song² 

[1] Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China;Key Laboratory for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Molecular Imaging of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, China;Engineering Technology Research Center for Detection and Application of Brain Function of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, China;Engineering Research Center of Medical Imaging Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, China;Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Brain Function of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, China;Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Cognitive Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Zhengzhou, Zhengzhou, China;Key Laboratory of Imaging Intelligence Research Medicine of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, China;Engineering Research Center of Brain Function Development and Application of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, China;Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China;

关键词: schizophrenia;    functional connectivity;    magnetic resonance imaging;    cognition;    hippocampus;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnins.2023.1167942

 received in 2023-02-17, accepted in 2023-05-08,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Background and objectiveThe cortico–hippocampal network is an emerging neural framework with striking evidence that it supports cognition in humans, especially memory; this network includes the anterior temporal (AT) system, the posterior medial (PM) system, the anterior hippocampus (aHIPPO), and the posterior hippocampus (pHIPPO). This study aimed to detect aberrant patterns of functional connectivity within and between large-scale cortico–hippocampal networks in first-episode schizophrenia patients compared with a healthy control group via resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and to explore the correlations of these aberrant patterns with cognition.MethodsA total of 86 first-episode, drug-naïve schizophrenia patients and 102 healthy controls (HC) were recruited to undergo rs-fMRI examinations and clinical evaluations. We conducted large-scale edge-based network analysis to characterize the functional architecture of the cortico–hippocampus network and investigate between-group differences in within/between-network functional connectivity. Additionally, we explored the associations of functional connectivity (FC) abnormalities with clinical characteristics, including scores on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and cognitive scores.ResultsCompared with the HC group, schizophrenia patients exhibited widespread alterations to within-network FC of the cortico–hippocampal network, with decreases in FC involving the precuneus (PREC), amygdala (AMYG), parahippocampal cortex (PHC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), perirhinal cortex (PRC), retrosplenial cortex (RSC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), angular gyrus (ANG), aHIPPO, and pHIPPO. Schizophrenia patients also showed abnormalities in large-scale between-network FC of the cortico–hippocampal network, in the form of significantly decreased FC between the AT and the PM, the AT and the aHIPPO, the PM and the aHIPPO, and the aHIPPO and the pHIPPO. A number of these signatures of aberrant FC were correlated with PANSS score (positive, negative, and total score) and with scores on cognitive test battery items, including attention/vigilance (AV), working memory (WM), verbal learning and memory (Verb_Lrng), visual learning and memory (Vis_Lrng), reasoning and problem-solving (RPS), and social cognition (SC).ConclusionSchizophrenia patients show distinct patterns of functional integration and separation both within and between large-scale cortico–hippocampal networks, reflecting a network imbalance of the hippocampal long axis with the AT and PM systems, which regulate cognitive domains (mainly Vis_Lrng, Verb_Lrng, WM, and RPS), and particularly involving alterations to FC of the AT system and the aHIPPO. These findings provide new insights into the neurofunctional markers of schizophrenia.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Xue, Chen, Wei, Chen, Han, Wang, Zhang, Song and Cheng.