title: Endogenous testosterone levels are associated with neural activity in men with schizophrenia during facial emotion processing.
abstract: Growing evidence suggests that testosterone may play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia given that testosterone has been linked to cognition and negative symptoms in schizophrenia. Here, we determine the extent to which serum testosterone levels are related to neural activity in affective processing circuitry in men with schizophrenia. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal changes as 32 healthy controls and 26 people with schizophrenia performed a facial emotion identification task. Whole brain analyses were performed to determine regions of differential activity between groups during processing of angry versus non-threatening faces. A follow-up ROI analysis using a regression model in a subset of 16 healthy men and 16 men with schizophrenia was used to determine the extent to which serum testosterone levels were related to neural activity. Healthy controls displayed significantly greater activation than people with schizophrenia in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). There was no significant difference in circulating testosterone levels between healthy men and men with schizophrenia. Regression analyses between activation in the IFG and circulating testosterone levels revealed a significant positive correlation in men with schizophrenia (r=.63, p=.01) and no significant relationship in healthy men. This study provides the first evidence that circulating serum testosterone levels are related to IFG activation during emotion face processing in men with schizophrenia but not in healthy men, which suggests that testosterone levels modulate neural processes relevant to facial emotion processing that may interfere with social functioning in men with schizophrenia.
authors: School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia; Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia.
authors: Ellen
authors: E
authors: Ji
authors: School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia; Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia; Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia.
authors: Cynthia Shannon
authors: CS
authors: Weickert
authors: School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia; Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia; Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia.
authors: Rhoshel
authors: R
authors: Lenroot
authors: School of Medical Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors: Stanley V
authors: SV
authors: Catts
authors: School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia; Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia; Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia; School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Strathfield, NSW 2135, Australia.
authors: Ans
authors: A
authors: Vercammen
authors: Department of Endocrinology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia.
authors: Christopher
authors: C
authors: White
authors: Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 United States.
authors: Raquel E
authors: RE
authors: Gur
authors: School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia; Neuroscience Research Australia, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia; Schizophrenia Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW 2010, Australia. Electronic address: t.weickert@neura.edu.au.
authors: Thomas W
authors: TW
authors: Weickert
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005145:Face; D005149:Facial Expression; D000066499:Facial Recognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Emotional face processing; Inferior frontal gyrus; Schizophrenia; Testosterone