title: Functional activation abnormalities during facial emotion perception in schizophrenia patients and nonpsychotic relatives.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Deficits in facial emotion perception in schizophrenia may be a marker of disorder liability. Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies investigating these deficits have been limited by task demands that may recruit other impaired cognitive processes in schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a family study design along with a passive viewing task during fMRI to investigate brain activation abnormalities underlying facial emotion perception in schizophrenia and examine whether such abnormalities are associated with the genetic liability to the disorder. Twenty-eight schizophrenia patients, 27 nonpsychotic relatives, and 27 community controls passively viewed images of facial emotions during an fMRI scan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analyses revealed hypoactivation in face processing areas for both patients and relatives compared to controls, and hyperactivation in relatives compared to both patients and controls for frontal regions implicated in emotion processing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggest that activation abnormalities during facial emotion perception are manifestations of the genetic liability to schizophrenia, and may be accompanied by compensatory mechanisms in relatives. Studying mechanisms in nonpsychotic relatives is a valuable way to examine effects of the unexpressed genetic liability to schizophrenia on the brain and behaviour.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuroscience of Schizophrenia (CNS) Laboratory, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada. Electronic address: mspilka@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Spilka
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuroscience of Schizophrenia (CNS) Laboratory, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Aiden E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuroscience of Schizophrenia (CNS) Laboratory, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada. Electronic address: vmgoghar@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Vina M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Goghari
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Facial emotion perception; Genetic liability; Relatives; Schizophrenia; Social cognition; fMRI