Structural connectivity of an interoception network in schizophrenia.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Interoception, the brain's processing of bodily signals, is vital for survival and emotional regulation.
• Altered interoception is suspected in schizophrenia, but its neural basis remains under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the anatomical connectivity of the interoception network in schizophrenia.
• To examine the relationship between network connectivity, emotional functioning, and clinical symptoms in schizophrenia.

Main Methods:

• Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and probabilistic tractography were used to analyze white matter tracts in 35 schizophrenia (SZ) and 36 healthy control (HC) participants.
• Structural connectivity of the interoception network was compared between groups.
• Connectivity was correlated with measures of emotional functioning and symptom severity.

Main Results:

• Schizophrenia patients exhibited altered structural connectivity within the interoception network compared to healthy controls.
• In healthy controls, network connectivity strongly correlated with emotion recognition.
• This correlation was significantly weaker in schizophrenia patients.

Conclusions:

• Schizophrenia is associated with disrupted structural connectivity in the interoception network.
• Impaired interoception network connectivity may underlie emotional deficits observed in schizophrenia.
• These findings highlight potential illness mechanisms related to interoception in schizophrenia.