title: Negative symptoms in schizophrenia show association with amygdala volumes and neural activation during affective processing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Negative symptoms in schizophrenia have been associated with structural and functional alterations of the amygdala. We hypothesised that there would be between-group differences in amygdala volume and neural activation patterns during processing of affective stimuli among patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. We further hypothesised correlations between neuroimaging metrics and clinical ratings of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess volume and neural activation of the amygdala in 28 patients with schizophrenia and 28 healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found no between-group differences in amygdala volume or neural activation. However, we found a significant negative correlation between emotional blunting and neural activation in the left amygdala during processing of positive affect. We also found a significant negative correlation between stereotyped thinking and the volume of right amygdala.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings implicate the amygdala in a subgroup of negative symptoms in schizophrenia that are characterised by reduced expression with blunted affect and stereotyped thinking.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Medicine,Karolinska Institutet,Stockholm,Sweden.
authors.forename: Christoffer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rahm
authors.affiliation: 2Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre,Department of Psychiatry,The University of Melbourne,Melbourne,VIC,Australia.
authors.forename: Benny
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liberg
authors.affiliation: 4Division of Mental Health and Addiction,Institute of Clinical Medicine,University of Oslo,Norway.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Reckless
authors.affiliation: 4Division of Mental Health and Addiction,Institute of Clinical Medicine,University of Oslo,Norway.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ousdal
authors.affiliation: 4Division of Mental Health and Addiction,Institute of Clinical Medicine,University of Oslo,Norway.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Melle
authors.affiliation: 4Division of Mental Health and Addiction,Institute of Clinical Medicine,University of Oslo,Norway.
authors.forename: Ole A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Andreassen
authors.affiliation: 4Division of Mental Health and Addiction,Institute of Clinical Medicine,University of Oslo,Norway.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Agartz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior / Q000502:physiology
keywords: amygdala; functional magnetic resonance imaging; magnetic resonance imaging; schizophrenia