Cortical thickness as a contributor to abnormal oscillations in schizophrenia?

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Brain Imaging

Background:

• Brain rhythms are influenced by brain structure, but function-structure relationships are understudied in schizophrenia.
• Individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) show structural and functional abnormalities in auditory regions like the superior temporal gyrus (STG).
• Investigating these relationships may inform models of psychosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how STG structure relates to auditory STG low-frequency and 40 Hz steady-state activity.
• To explore age-related associations in STG oscillatory activity.
• To compare these associations in healthy controls (HC) and individuals with SZ.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 39 individuals with SZ and 29 HC.
• Recorded magnetoencephalography (MEG) and structural MRI (sMRI) data.
• Computed STG oscillatory activity (total power, inter-trial coherence) and assessed associations with STG cortical thickness and age.

Main Results:

• Individuals with SZ exhibited decreased low-frequency and 40 Hz steady-state activity in the left STG compared to HC.
• In HC, left STG oscillatory activity positively correlated with left STG cortical thickness and age.
• These function-structure and age-related associations were absent in individuals with SZ.

Conclusions:

• Abnormalities in left STG low-frequency and 40 Hz gamma-band activity differentiate SZ from HC.
• Gray matter damage in the STG in SZ may disrupt the age-related function-structure relationships observed in controls.