Overactivation of fear systems to neutral faces in schizophrenia.
BACKGROUND
The amygdala plays a central role in detecting and responding to fear-related stimuli. A number of recent studies have reported decreased amygdala activation in schizophrenia to emotional stimuli (such as fearful faces) compared with matched neutral stimuli (such as neutral faces). We investigated whether the apparent decrease in amygdala activation in schizophrenia could actually derive from increased amygdala activation to the neutral comparator stimuli.


METHODS
Nineteen patients with schizophrenia and 24 matched control participants viewed pictures of faces with either fearful or neutral facial expressions, and a baseline condition, during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning.


RESULTS
Patients with schizophrenia showed a relative decrease in amygdala activation to fearful faces compared with neutral faces. However, this difference resulted from an increase in amygdala activation to the neutral faces in patients with schizophrenia, not from a decreased response to the fearful faces.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with schizophrenia show an increased response of the amygdala to neutral faces. This is sufficient to explain their apparent deficit in amygdala activation to fearful faces compared with neutral faces. The inappropriate activation of neural systems involved in fear to otherwise neutral stimuli may contribute to the development of psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia.
Hall
Jeremy
J
Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. jhall5@staffmail.ed.ac.uk
Whalley
Heather C
HC
McKirdy
James W
JW
Romaniuk
Liana
L
McGonigle
David
D
McIntosh
Andrew M
AM
Baig
Ben J
BJ
Gountouna
Viktoria-Eleni
VE
Job
Dominic E
DE
Donaldson
David I
DI
Sprengelmeyer
Reiner
R
Young
Andrew W
AW
Johnstone
Eve C
EC
Lawrie
Stephen M
SM
D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005149:Facial Expression; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology