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Abnormal auditory tonotopy in patients with schizophrenia
Gaelle E Doucet1, Maxwell J Luber1, Priti Balchandani2
1Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
NPJ Schizophrenia
|October 4, 2019
Summary
Schizophrenia patients with auditory hallucinations show abnormal auditory cortex organization. Ultra-high field imaging reveals altered tonotopy, suggesting a potential biomarker for early identification of individuals at risk.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Auditory hallucinations are a common and distressing symptom of schizophrenia.
- The origin of auditory hallucinations, whether sensory or higher-order, remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the tonotopic organization of the auditory cortex in schizophrenia patients with a history of hallucinations.
- To utilize ultra-high field 7 Tesla MRI for enhanced spatial resolution.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 7 Tesla.
- Passive listening task with tones across a wide frequency range (88-8000 Hz).
- Comparison of auditory cortex activation and tonotopy between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls.
Main Results:
- Schizophrenia patients exhibited abnormally increased auditory cortex activation.
- Altered tonotopic organization was observed in the auditory cortex of patients.
- These functional differences were detected during a basic auditory perception task.
Conclusions:
- Abnormalities in the functional organization of the auditory cortex may predispose individuals to auditory hallucinations.
- Altered tonotopy could serve as a potential biomarker for early identification of schizophrenia vulnerability.
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