Aberrant salience network (bilateral insula and anterior cingulate cortex) connectivity during information processing...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• The salience network, including the insula and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), is crucial for processing sensory information.
• Disruptions in brain network connectivity are implicated in schizophrenia.
• Functional network connectivity (FNC) analysis offers insights into these disruptions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate alterations in salience network connectivity during somatosensory information processing in schizophrenia.
• To test the hypothesis that FNC is disturbed in the salience network in individuals with schizophrenia.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to acquire brain activity data during vibrotactile stimulation.
• Group independent component analysis identified six spatial networks of interest.
• Maximal-lagged correlation analysis examined FNC between these components.

Main Results:

• Individuals with schizophrenia exhibited significantly reduced FNC compared to healthy controls between the insula/superior temporal/precentral gyrus (INS) and ACC.
• Reduced FNC was also observed between INS and ventromedial frontal cortex (FDMN).
• Connectivity between the left central executive network (LCEN) and the precuneus/posterior cingulate/angular gyrus (PDMN) was also decreased in schizophrenia.

Conclusions:

• Reduced salience network connectivity in schizophrenia suggests a disturbance in the system responsible for switching between functional brain states.
• These aberrant connectivity patterns may offer a mechanistic explanation for various clinical features observed in schizophrenia.
• The findings highlight the role of disturbed salience network function in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.