Edge-centric functional network analyses and their associated genetic mechanisms in patients with first-episode...

Extensive evidence has highlighted disrupted brain connectivity in schizophrenia, yet traditional node-centric approaches have provided only limited insights into its underlying neurobiology. To address this gap, we analyzed resting-state fMRI data from 52 first-episode schizophrenia patients and 51 matched healthy controls, applying an edge-centric framework to compute normalized entropy, which quantifies the diversity of edge community affiliations at each node. Compared with healthy control, patients with schizophrenia exhibited significantly reduced entropy in prefrontal and temporal regions, reflecting diminished network diversity. These alterations were further associated with transcriptomic profiles, with the most relevant genes enriched for synaptic signaling and neurodevelopmental processes. This study demonstrates aberrant edge-centric network dynamics in schizophrenia and their relations to schizophrenia-related molecular pathways, providing novel insights into the pathophysiology of the disorder.