Resting-state functional connectivity of salience network in schizophrenia and depression

To explore the salience network (SN) functional alterations in schizophrenia and depression, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data from 29 patients with schizophrenia (SCH), 28 patients with depression (DEP) and 30 healthy controls (HC) were obtained. The SN was derived from data-driven group independent component analysis (gICA). ANCOVA and post hoc tests were performed to discover the FC differences of SN between groups. The ANCOVA demonstrated a significant group effect in FC with right inferior and middle temporal gyrus (ITG and MTG), left caudate, and right precentral gyrus. Post-hoc analyses revealed an opposite altered FC pattern between SN and right ITG and MTG for both patient groups. The DEP group showed a reduced FC between SN and right ITG and MTG compared with HC whereas the SCH group showed an increased FC. In addition, the SCH group showed decreased FC between SN and left caudate, and enhanced FC between SN and right precentral gyrus compared to the other two groups. Our findings suggest distinct FC of SN in schizophrenia and depression, supporting that the resting-state FC pattern of SN may be a transdiagnostic difference between depression and schizophrenia and may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of these two disorders.