Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 29, 2025
Correlating Behavioral Responses to fMRI Signals from Human Prefrontal Cortex: Examining Cognitive Processes Using Task Analysis
Published on: June 20, 2012
Right superior frontal gyrus: A potential neuroimaging biomarker for predicting short-term efficacy in schizophrenia
Yongfeng Yang1, Xueyan Jin2, Yongjiang Xue3
1NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, Beijing 100191, China; Department of Psychiatry, Henan Mental Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, China; Henan Key Lab of Biological Psychiatry, Xinxiang Medical University, International Joint Research Laboratory for Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Henan, Xinxiang 453002, China; Henan Collaborative Innovation Center of Prevention and Treatment of Mental Disorder, Xinxiang 453002, China.
Abstract:
Antipsychotic drug treatment for schizophrenia (SZ) can alter brain structure and function, but it is unclear if specific regional changes are associated with treatment outcome. Therefore, we examined the effects of antipsychotic drug treatment on regional grey matter (GM) density, white matter (WM) density, and functional connectivity (FC) as well as associations between regional changes and treatment efficacy. SZ patients (n = 163) and health controls (HCs) (n = 131) were examined by structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) at baseline, and a subset of SZ patients (n = 77) were re-examined after 8 weeks of second-generation antipsychotic treatment to assess changes in regional GM and WM density. In addition, 88 SZ patients and 81 HCs were examined by resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) at baseline and the patients were re-examined post-treatment to examine FC changes. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) were applied to measure psychiatric symptoms and cognitive impairments in SZ. SZ patients were then stratified into response and non-response groups according to PANSS score change (≥50 % decrease or <50 % decrease, respectively). The GM density of the right cingulate gyrus, WM density of the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG) plus 5 other WM tracts were reduced in the response group compared to the non-response group. The FC values between the right anterior cingulate and paracingulate gyrus and left thalamus were reduced in the entire SZ group (n = 88) after treatment, while FC between the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) and right medial superior frontal gyrus (SFGmed) was increased in the response group. There were no significant changes in regional FC among the non-response group after treatment and no correlations with symptom or cognition test scores. These findings suggest that the right SFG is a critical target of antipsychotic drugs and that WM density and FC alterations within this region could be used as potential indicators in predicting the treatment outcome of antipsychotics of SZ.
