Conference paper
IN SEARCH OF NEURAL MECHANISMS OF MIRROR NEURON DYSFUNCTION IN SCHIZOPHRENIA: RESTING STATE FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY APPROACH
Yuliya Zaytseva
; National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic ; Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic ; Human Science Center, Institute of Medical Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
Marie Bendova
; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republi
Zhanna Garakh
; Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russian Federat
Jaroslav Tintera
; Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Rep
Jan Rydlo
; Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Rep
Filip Spaniel
; National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic ; Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Repub
Jiri i Horacek
; National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic ; Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Repub
Abstract
It has been repeatedly shown that schizophrenia patients have immense alterations in goal-directed behaviour, social cognition,
and social interactions, cognitive abilities that are presumably driven by the mirror neurons system (MNS). However, the neural
bases of these deficits still remain unclear. Along with the task-related fMRI and EEG research tapping into the mirror neuron
system, the characteristics of the resting state activity in the particular areas that encompass mirror neurons might be of interest as
they obviously determine the baseline of the neuronal activity. Using resting state fMRI, we investigated resting state functional
connectivity (FC) in four predefined brain structures, ROIs (inferior frontal gyrus, superior parietal lobule, premotor cortex and
superior temporal gyrus), known for their mirror neurons activity, in 12 patients with first psychotic episode and 12 matched healthy
individuals. As a specific hypothesis, based on the knowledge of the anatomical inputs of thalamus to all preselected ROIs, we have
investigated the FC between thalamus and the ROIs. Of all ROIs included, seed-to-voxel connectivity analysis revealed significantly
decreased FC only in left posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) and the areas in visual cortex and cerebellum in patients as
compared to controls. Using ROI-to-ROI analysis (thalamus and selected ROIs), we have found an increased FC of STG and
bilateral thalamus whereas the FC of these areas was decreased in controls. Our results suggest that: (1) schizophrenia patients
exhibit FC of STG which corresponds to the previously reported changes of superior temporal gyrus in schizophrenia and might
contribute to the disturbances of specific functions, such as emotional processing or spatial awareness; (2) as the thalamus plays a
pivotal role in the sensory gating, providing the filtering of the redundant stimulation, the observed hyperconnectivity between the
thalami and the STGs in patients with schizophrenia might explain the sequential overload with sensory inputs that leads to the
abnormal cognitive processing.
Keywords
mirror neuron system; schizophrenia, fMRI; resting state; connectivity
Hrčak ID:
264546
URI
Publication date:
8.9.2015.
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