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Published on: November 21, 2013
Neural correlates of movement generation in the 'at-risk mental state'
Matthew R Broome1, P Matthiasson, P Fusar-Poli
1Section of Neuroimaging, Division of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK. m.r.broome@warwick.ac.uk
Objective:
People with 'prodromal' symptoms have a very high risk of developing psychosis. We examined the neurocognitive basis of this vulnerability by using functional MRI to study subjects with an at-risk mental state (ARMS) while they performed a random movement generation task.
Method:
Cross-sectional comparison of individuals with an ARMS (n = 17), patients with first episode schizophreniform psychosis (n = 10) and healthy volunteers (n = 15). Subjects were studied using functional MRI while they performed a random movement generation paradigm.
Results:
During random movement generation, the ARMS group showed less activation in the left inferior parietal cortex than controls, but greater activation than in the first episode group.
Conclusion:
The ARMS is associated with abnormalities of regional brain function that are qualitatively similar to those in patients who have recently presented with psychosis but less severe.
