Altered Brain Network Dynamics in Schizophrenia Patients With Predominant Negative Symptoms: A Resting-State fMRI...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Negative symptoms in schizophrenia significantly impair function but lack understanding of neural mechanisms.
• Static functional connectivity analysis may miss dynamic brain network changes.
• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) with co-activation pattern (CAP) analysis offers higher temporal resolution for studying brain dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate dynamic brain network alterations in schizophrenia using CAP analysis.
• Differentiate network dynamics between schizophrenia patients with and without predominant negative symptoms compared to healthy controls.
• Identify potential neuroimaging markers for negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

Main Methods:

• Utilized CAP analysis on rs-fMRI data from 31 schizophrenia patients with predominant negative symptoms, 31 without, and 34 healthy controls.
• Identified eight distinct brain states characterized by network interactions (sensorimotor, default mode, salience).
• Analyzed temporal characteristics of brain states and transitions between them.

Main Results:

• Schizophrenia patients exhibited altered temporal dynamics, including reduced sensorimotor states and increased transitions to control-salience states.
• Patients with predominant negative symptoms showed reduced dwell time in sensorimotor-salience states and excessive sensorimotor to control-salience transitions.
• Symptom severity correlated with network alterations in the overall schizophrenia group and the subgroup without negative symptoms.

Conclusions:

• Predominant negative symptoms in schizophrenia are linked to stable, trait-like network reorganization with excessive state transitions.
• Dynamic network alterations, particularly state transitions, may serve as neuroimaging markers for clinical assessment.
• Findings highlight the importance of dynamic connectivity in understanding schizophrenia pathophysiology.