title: Brain functional connectivity of male patients in remission after the first episode of schizophrenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Abnormal task-related activation and connectivity is present in schizophrenia. The aim of this study was the analysis of functional networks in schizophrenia patients in remission after the first episode.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-nine male patients in remission after the first episode of schizophrenia and 22 healthy controls underwent examination by functional magnetic resonance during verbal fluency tasks (VFT). The functional connectivity of brain networks was analyzed using independent component analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients showed lower activation of the salience network during VFT. They also showed lower deactivation of the default mode network (DMN) during VFT processing. Spectral analysis of the component time courses showed decreased power in slow frequencies of signal fluctuations in the salience and DMNs and increased power in higher frequencies in the left frontoparietal cortex reflecting higher fluctuations of the network activity. Moreover, there was decreased similarity of component time courses in schizophrenia—the patients had smaller negative correlation between VFT activated and deactivated networks, and smaller positive correlations between DMN subcomponents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is still an abnormal functional connectivity of several brain networks in remission after the first episode of schizophrenia. The effect of different treatment modalities on brain connectivity, together with temporal dynamics of this functional abnormality should be the objective of further studies to assess its potential as a marker of disease stabilization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Masaryk University and University hospital Brno, Czech Republic. tomas.kasparek@centrum.cz
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kasparek
authors.forename: Radovan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prikryl
authors.forename: Jitka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rehulova
authors.forename: Radek
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marecek
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mikl
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Prikrylova
authors.forename: Jiri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vanicek
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ceskova
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen