TY - JOUR
T1 - Impaired white matter connectivity between regions containing mirror neurons, and relationship to negative symptoms and social cognition, in patients with first-episode schizophrenia
AU - Saito, Yukiko
AU - Kubicki, Marek
AU - Koerte, Inga
AU - Otsuka, Tatsui
AU - Rathi, Yogesh
AU - Pasternak, Ofer
AU - Bouix, Sylvain
AU - Eckbo, Ryan
AU - Kikinis, Zora
AU - von Hohenberg, Christian Clemm
AU - Roppongi, Tomohide
AU - Del Re, Elisabetta
AU - Asami, Takeshi
AU - Lee, Sang Hyuk
AU - Karmacharya, Sarina
AU - Mesholam-Gately, Raquelle I.
AU - Seidman, Larry J.
AU - Levitt, James
AU - McCarley, Robert W.
AU - Shenton, Martha E.
AU - Niznikiewicz, Margaret A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by a Department of Veteran Affairs Merit Award (MES), and in part by NIH grants including 1P50MH080272 CIDAR (RWM, MES), P41 RR13218 (MES), R01 MH 50740 (MES), NA-MIC (NIH) grant U54 GM072977 (MK), 1R01 AG04252 (MK and OP), R01 MH102377 (MK, MES and OP). R01 MH074794 (OP), 2P41 EB015902-16 (OP, MES), the Commonwealth Research Center (SCDMH82101008006; LJS), NARSAD (ZK and OP), Else Kröner-Fresenius Stiftung, Germany (IK), NIMH R21MH094509 (MAN).
Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This work was supported in part by a Department of Veteran Affairs Merit Award (MES), and in part by NIH grants including 1P50MH080272 CIDAR (RWM, MES), P41 RR13218 (MES), R01 MH 50740 (MES), NA-MIC (NIH) grant U54 GM072977 (MK), 1R01 AG04252 (MK and OP), R01 MH102377 (MK, MES and OP). R01 MH074794 (OP), 2P41 EB015902-16 (OP, MES), the Commonwealth Research Center (SCDMH82101008006; LJS), NARSAD (ZK and OP), Else Kröner-Fresenius Stiftung, Germany (IK), NIMH R21MH094509 (MAN).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2018/2/1
Y1 - 2018/2/1
N2 - In schizophrenia, abnormalities in structural connectivity between brain regions known to contain mirror neurons and their relationship to negative symptoms related to a domain of social cognition are not well understood. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans were acquired in 16 patients with first episode schizophrenia and 16 matched healthy controls. FA and Trace of the tracts interconnecting regions known to be rich in mirror neurons, i.e., anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), inferior parietal lobe (IPL) and premotor cortex (PMC) were evaluated. A significant group effect for Trace was observed in IPL-PMC white matter fiber tract (F (1, 28) = 7.13, p = .012), as well as in the PMC-ACC white matter fiber tract (F (1, 28) = 4.64, p = .040). There were no group differences in FA. In addition, patients with schizophrenia showed a significant positive correlation between the Trace of the left IPL-PMC white matter fiber tract, and the Ability to Feel Intimacy and Closeness score (rho = .57, p = 0.034), and a negative correlation between the Trace of the left PMC-ACC and the Relationships with Friends and Peers score (rho = remove -.54, p = 0.049). We have demonstrated disrupted white mater microstructure within the white matter tracts subserving brain regions containing mirror neurons. We further showed that such structural disruptions might impact negative symptoms and, more specifically, contribute to the inability to feel intimacy (a measure conceptually related to theory of mind) in first episode schizophrenia. Further studies are needed to understand the potential of our results for diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic interventions.
AB - In schizophrenia, abnormalities in structural connectivity between brain regions known to contain mirror neurons and their relationship to negative symptoms related to a domain of social cognition are not well understood. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans were acquired in 16 patients with first episode schizophrenia and 16 matched healthy controls. FA and Trace of the tracts interconnecting regions known to be rich in mirror neurons, i.e., anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), inferior parietal lobe (IPL) and premotor cortex (PMC) were evaluated. A significant group effect for Trace was observed in IPL-PMC white matter fiber tract (F (1, 28) = 7.13, p = .012), as well as in the PMC-ACC white matter fiber tract (F (1, 28) = 4.64, p = .040). There were no group differences in FA. In addition, patients with schizophrenia showed a significant positive correlation between the Trace of the left IPL-PMC white matter fiber tract, and the Ability to Feel Intimacy and Closeness score (rho = .57, p = 0.034), and a negative correlation between the Trace of the left PMC-ACC and the Relationships with Friends and Peers score (rho = remove -.54, p = 0.049). We have demonstrated disrupted white mater microstructure within the white matter tracts subserving brain regions containing mirror neurons. We further showed that such structural disruptions might impact negative symptoms and, more specifically, contribute to the inability to feel intimacy (a measure conceptually related to theory of mind) in first episode schizophrenia. Further studies are needed to understand the potential of our results for diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic interventions.
KW - Diffusion tensor imaging
KW - First-episode schizophrenia
KW - Mirror neuron
KW - White matter connectivity
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U2 - 10.1007/s11682-017-9685-z
DO - 10.1007/s11682-017-9685-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 28247157
AN - SCOPUS:85014043911
SN - 1931-7557
VL - 12
SP - 229
EP - 237
JO - Brain Imaging and Behavior
JF - Brain Imaging and Behavior
IS - 1
ER -
