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Auditory and Visual Thalamocortical Connectivity Alterations in Unmedicated People with Schizophrenia: An
John C Williams1,2,3, Philip N Tubiolo1,2,4, Roberto B Gil1,5,6
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794.
Medrxiv : the Preprint Server for Health Sciences
|January 7, 2025
Summary
Visual thalamocortical hyperconnectivity is a general marker in schizophrenia. Auditory thalamocortical connectivity differences in schizophrenia are linked to positive symptom severity, not generalized across all patients.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Schizophrenia pathophysiology involves thalamocortical circuit dysfunction.
- Preclinical models show reduced auditory thalamocortical transmission, potentially explaining auditory hallucinations.
- Human studies report generalized thalamocortical hyperconnectivity in people with schizophrenia (PSZ).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate localized auditory and visual thalamic nuclei connectivity in unmedicated PSZ.
- To compare resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) between PSZ and healthy controls (HC).
- To associate thalamocortical connectivity with positive symptom severity in schizophrenia.
Main Methods:
- Case-control study using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
- Localized auditory and visual thalamic nuclei using a specific fMRI task.
- Assessed RSFC between localized nuclei and primary sensory cortices in 82 PSZ and 55 HC.
Main Results:
- No significant difference in auditory thalamocortical connectivity between PSZ and HC.
- Auditory thalamocortical hyperconnectivity correlated with positive symptom severity.
- Visual thalamocortical connectivity was significantly higher in PSZ, particularly in higher-order visual cortex.
Conclusions:
- Visual thalamocortical hyperconnectivity serves as a generalized marker for schizophrenia.
- Auditory thalamocortical hyperconnectivity is specifically associated with positive symptom severity in schizophrenia.
Keywords:
22q11 deletionSchizophreniaauditory systemfunctional localizationfunctional magnetic resonance imaginglateral geniculate nucleusmedial geniculate nucleuspositive symptomsresting-state functional connectivitysensory processingsensory thalamic localizer taskthalamocorticalthalamusvisual system
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