title: Restoration of frontal activation during a treatment with quetiapine: an fMRI study of blunted affect in schizophrenia.
abstract: This study investigated changes in cerebral activation related to emotion processing in schizophrenia patients with blunted or flat affect (FA+) during treatment with quetiapine. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), brain activation in 12 FA+ schizophrenia patients during passive viewing of sad film excerpts was studied before and after a median of 5.5-months treatment with quetiapine. Random-effects 'paired sample t-test' analyses of brain activation before quetiapine (contrast=sad-neutral, before-after) revealed significant activation in the brainstem (pons, medulla). After quetiapine, the same contrast showed significant prefrontal activation (BA 9, 10 and 11). Activation of key prefrontal areas involved in emotion processing and significant symptoms improvement as measured by the subjective rating scale and PANSS suggests the potential effect of quetiapine in improving blunted affect related symptoms (i.e., passive withdrawal, emotional withdrawal, social avoidance) in schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Centre de Recherche Fernand-Seguin, Hôpital Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, Université de Montréal. 7331, rue Hochelaga Montréal (Québec), Canada H1N 3V2. emmanuel.stip@umontreal.ca
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stip
authors.forename: Cherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fahim
authors.forename: Adham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mancini-Marïe
authors.forename: Lahcen Ait
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Bentaleb
authors.forename: Boualem
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mensour
authors.forename: Adrianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mendrek
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beauregard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003987:Dibenzothiazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D000069348:Quetiapine Fumarate; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D003987:Dibenzothiazepines; D000069348:Quetiapine Fumarate