Frontal-striatum dysfunction during reward processing: Relationships to amotivation in schizophrenia

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Schizophrenia is linked to cognitive control deficits, potentially due to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) impairment.
• The role of DLPFC in integrating reward and goal information in schizophrenia remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if individuals with schizophrenia can use reward context to modulate cognitive control.
• To examine sustained and transient reward effects on cognitive control using fMRI.

Main Methods:

• 36 individuals with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder and 27 healthy controls performed a response conflict task.
• fMRI scanning was used during baseline and reward conditions with monetary incentives.
• A mixed state-item design analyzed sustained and transient reward effects.

Main Results:

• Schizophrenia patients showed sustained DLPFC activity during reward, contrary to predictions of impairment.
• Blunted sustained activations were observed in the putamen and basal ganglia in response to reward cues.
• Anhedonia severity correlated with reduced sustained DLPFC activation in schizophrenia patients.

Conclusions:

• DLPFC function in reward processing may be intact at a group level in schizophrenia.
• Motivational impairments in schizophrenia are associated with DLPFC and striatal dysfunction in salient situations.