Neural basis of cognitive-perceptual and negative affect: the linking role of ventral anterior insula connectivity

Schizotypal personality (SP) is characterized by cognitive-perceptual disturbances, interpersonal difficulties, and disorganized behavior. We examined associations between SP traits and affect, and insula-centered neural mechanisms underlying this link.

One hundred sixty-one university students completed the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and underwent resting-state fMRI. Seed-based whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) analyses used bilateral ventral anterior, dorsal anterior, and posterior insula seeds. Pearson correlations and mediation analyses tested associations among SP traits, negative affect, and FC.

Cognitive-perceptual traits correlated positively with negative affect (r = 0.36, p < 0.001). FC between the right inferior parietal lobule (IPL.R) and the left ventral anterior insula (vAI.L) was positively correlated with cognitive-perceptual traits (r = 0.33, p < 0.001), whereas FC between the right cerebellar Crus I and the vAI.L was negatively correlated (r = -0.37, p < 0.001). FC between the right ventral anterior insula (vAI.R) and the Left Calcarine Gyrus (CAL.L) was also negative (r = -0.30, p < 0.001). vAI.L-IPL.R FC partially mediated the cognitive-perceptual traits-negative affect association (indirect effect = 0.1883, 95% bootstrap CI [0.0246, 0.4022]).

vAI.L-IPL.R FC partially accounts for the link between cognitive-perceptual traits and negative affect, highlighting a potential neural pathway underlying affective vulnerability in SP.