Altered cardiac autonomic functioning associates with self-disorders in schizophrenia

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Cardiology

Background:

• Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction, marked by elevated resting heart rate (RHR) and reduced heart rate variability (HRV), is observed in schizophrenia (SCZ).
• This ANS dysfunction may precede clinical diagnosis, suggesting a potential role in schizophrenia vulnerability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between self-disorders (SDs) and cardiac autonomic functioning in recent-onset schizophrenia.
• To determine if SDs, as measured by the EASE manual, correlate with RHR and HRV parameters in individuals with SCZ.

Main Methods:

• A case-control study involving 35 recent-onset SCZ patients and 33 healthy controls (HC).
• Electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings were used to measure RHR and HRV (RMSSD, SDNN, HF/LF ratio).
• Pearson correlations and adjusted linear regression models analyzed the relationship between EASE scores (SDs) and cardiac autonomic measures.

Main Results:

• A moderate positive association was found between SDs and RHR (r=0.463; p=0.005).
• A moderate negative association was observed between SDs and RMSSD (r=-0.440; p=0.008).
• SDs explained 22% of RHR variance and 19% of RMSSD variance in the SCZ group. SDs also correlated with LF/HF ratio (r=0.434; p=0.009).

Conclusions:

• The study provides evidence linking self-disorders as a susceptibility trait for schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
• Altered cardiac autonomic functioning, specifically higher RHR and lower HRV, is associated with self-disorders in recent-onset schizophrenia.