Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 26, 2026
Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia
Published on: December 2, 2015
Abnormally increased and incoherent resting-state activity is shared between patients with schizophrenia and their
Chang Liu1, Zhimin Xue2, Lena Palaniyappan3
1Mental Health Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People's Republic of China; The China National Clinical Research Center for Mental Health Disorders, National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, 139 Middle Renmin Road, Changsha, Hunan 410011, People's Republic of China.
Background:
Several resting-state neuroimaging studies in schizophrenia indicate an excessive brain activity while others report an incoherent brain activity at rest. No direct evidence for the simultaneous presence of both excessive and incoherent brain activity has been established to date. Moreover, it is unclear whether unaffected siblings of schizophrenia patients who share half of the affected patient's genotype also exhibit the excessive and incoherent brain activity that may render them vulnerable to the development of schizophrenia.
Methods:
27 pairs of schizophrenia patients and their unaffected siblings, as well as 27 healthy controls, were scanned using gradient-echo echo-planar imaging at rest. By using amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (Reho), we investigated the intensity and synchronization of local spontaneous neuronal activity in three groups.
Results:
We observed that increased amplitude and reduced synchronization (coherence) of spontaneous neuronal activity were shared by patients and their unaffected siblings. The key brain regions with this abnormal neural pattern in both patients and siblings included the middle temporal, orbito-frontal, inferior occipital and fronto-insular gyrus.
Conclusions:
This abnormal neural pattern of excessive and incoherent neuronal activity shared by schizophrenia patients and their healthy siblings may improve our understanding of neuropathology and genetic predisposition in schizophrenia.
More Related Videos
05:52Handwriting Analysis Indicates Spontaneous Dyskinesias in Neuroleptic Naïve Adolescents at High Risk for Psychosis
Published on: November 21, 2013
08:36Dynamic Inter-subject Functional Connectivity Reveals Moment-to-Moment Brain Network Configurations Driven by Continuous or Communication Paradigms
Published on: March 21, 2019
Related Concept Videos
01:29Biological Causes of Schizophrenia
Genetic Factors in Schizophrenia
The genetic basis of schizophrenia is strongly supported by family and twin...
01:29Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia
01:30Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia: Hallucinations and Delusions
Thought Disorders
Disorganized and unusual thought processes mark thought disorders in schizophrenia. One key feature is disorganized speech, where an individual's conversation includes...
01:27Psychosis: Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
Researchers have identified genetic factors that increase susceptibility to schizophrenia, underscoring the intricate interplay between genetics and environment in disease development. At the core of schizophrenia's pathophysiology is excessive dopaminergic neurotransmission within...
01:17Schizophrenia
01:29Relationship with Other Adult Family Members and Siblings