Altered amygdala-prefrontal connectivity during emotion perception in schizophrenia

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Schizophrenia is associated with impaired emotional functioning.
• Abnormal amygdala activity is implicated in affective deficits in schizophrenia, but the precise mechanisms are unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate functional connectivity between the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during emotion perception in schizophrenia.
• To explore the relationship between amygdala-mPFC connectivity and social functioning in schizophrenia.

Main Methods:

• Used psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses with functional neuroimaging.
• Participants with schizophrenia (SZ) and healthy controls (HC) viewed and rated emotional images.
• Examined connectivity during perception of negative versus neutral images.

Main Results:

• Found significant group differences in right amygdala-mPFC connectivity during negative image perception.
• Healthy controls showed positive coupling (co-activation), while schizophrenia patients showed negative coupling (mPFC inhibition of amygdala).
• Weaker amygdala-mPFC coupling in SZ during negative stimuli correlated with poorer social functioning.

Conclusions:

• Emotional dysfunction in schizophrenia may stem from aberrant amygdala-mPFC interactions during emotional stimulus processing.
• Findings support the functional disconnection hypothesis of schizophrenia.
• Abnormal functional connectivity is linked to social functioning deficits in schizophrenia.