title: Ventral medial prefrontal functional connectivity and emotion regulation in chronic schizophrenia: a pilot study.
abstract: People with schizophrenia exhibit impaired social cognitive functions, particularly emotion regulation. Abnormal activations of the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) during emotional tasks have been demonstrated in schizophrenia, suggesting its important role in emotion processing in patients. We used the resting-state functional connectivity approach, setting a functionally relevant region, the vMPFC, as a seed region to examine the intrinsic functional interactions and communication between the vMPFC and other brain regions in schizophrenic patients. We found hypo-connectivity between the vMPFC and the medial frontal cortex, right middle temporal lobe (MTL), right hippocampus, parahippocampal cortex (PHC) and amygdala. Further, there was a decreased strength of the negative connectivity (or anticorrelation) between the vMPFC and the bilateral dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and pre-supplementary motor areas. Among these connectivity alterations, reduced vMPFC-DLPFC connectivity was positively correlated with positive symptoms on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, while vMPFC-right MTL/PHC/amygdala functional connectivity was positively correlated with the performance of emotional regulation in patients. These findings imply that communication and coordination throughout the brain networks are disrupted in schizophrenia. The emotional correlates of vMPFC connectivity suggest a role of the hypo-connectivity between these regions in the neuropathology of abnormal social cognition in chronic schizophrenia.
authors: Psychiatry Research Center, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Beijing, 100096, China.
authors: Feng-Mei
authors: FM
authors: Fan
authors: Shu-Ping
authors: SP
authors: Tan
authors: Fu-De
authors: FD
authors: Yang
authors: Yun-Long
authors: YL
authors: Tan
authors: Yan-Li
authors: YL
authors: Zhao
authors: Nan
authors: N
authors: Chen
authors: Bin-Bin
authors: BB
authors: Li
authors: Chong-Sheng
authors: CS
authors: Song
authors: Yun-Hui
authors: YH
authors: Wang
authors: Zhen
authors: Z
authors: Jin
authors: Dong-Feng
authors: DF
authors: Zhou
authors: Michael P
authors: MP
authors: Milham
authors: Yi-Zhuang
authors: YZ
authors: Zou
authors: Xi-Nian
authors: XN
authors: Zuo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D056348:Emotional Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior