title: Neural activity changes in unaffected children of patients with schizophrenia: A resting-state fMRI study.
abstract: Previous neuroimaging studies have suggested that individuals at risk for schizophrenia exhibit structural and functional brain abnormalities. However, few studies focus on resting state baseline activity in individuals with genetic high-risk for schizophrenia (HR). We examined cerebral spontaneous neural activity in HR by measuring the amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF) in the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance signal during resting state. Using a 3T MRI scanner, 28 non-psychotic young adult participants with at least one parent with schizophrenia and 44 matched unrelated healthy comparison subjects (HC) were scanned during the resting-state. The ALFF of the BOLD signal for each participant was calculated, and these values were then compared between-groups using voxel-based analysis of the ALFF maps. The HR group showed significantly increased ALFF compared to the HC group in the striatum, including the left caudate nucleus extending to the putamen and the right caudate nucleus. There was also increased ALFF in HR relative to controls in the left medial temporal region including hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus and the fusiform gyrus, as well as regions including the left lateral thalamus, bilateral ventral and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, bilateral calcarine sulcus and precuneus. There was significantly decreased ALFF in the HR group relative to controls in the left inferior parietal lobule/postcentral gyrus. Our findings suggest that altered intrinsic neuronal activity in cortico-striato-thalamic networks may represent genetic vulnerability for the development of schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China.
authors.forename: Yanqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China; Mental Health Center, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, PR China.
authors.forename: Kaiyuan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China.
authors.forename: Yifang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, USA.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Center of Shenyang, Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, USA.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Driesen
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt Neuroscience Graduate Program, Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: E Kale
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Edmiston
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mental Health, the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaogang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China.
authors.forename: Lingtao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China.
authors.forename: Huanhuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Liaoning Provincial Mental Center, Kaiyuan, Liaoning, China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China; Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, PR China. Electronic address: fei.wang@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D012146:Rest; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: ALFF; Resting-state functional MRI; Schizophrenia