title: Brain Correlates of Self-Evaluation Deficits in Schizophrenia: A Combined Functional and Structural MRI Study.
abstract: Self-evaluation plays an important role in adaptive functioning and is a process that is typically impaired in patients with schizophrenia. Underlying neural mechanisms for this dysfunction may be associated with manifested psychosis. However, the brain substrates underlying this deficit are not well known. The present study used brain blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and gray matter voxel-based morphometry to explore the functional and structural brain correlates of self-evaluation deficits in schizophrenia. Eighteen patients with schizophrenia and 17 healthy controls were recruited and asked to judge whether a set of personality-trait adjectives were appropriate for describing themselves, a familiar other, or whether the adjectives were of positive or negative valence. Patients had slower response times for negative trait attributions than controls did; responses to positive trait attributions were faster than those for negative traits among the patient group, while no differences were observed in the control group. Control subjects showed greater activation within the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dMPFC) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) than the patient group during the self-evaluation > semantic positivity-evaluation contrast. Patients showed greater activation mainly within the posterior cingulate gyrus (PCC) as compared to controls for the other-evaluation > semantic positivity-evaluation contrast. Furthermore, gray matter volume was reduced in the MPFC, temporal lobe, cuneus, and the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) among the patient group when compared to controls. The present study adds to previous findings regarding self- and other-referential processing in schizophrenia, providing support for neurobiological models of self-reflection impairment.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China; Center of Psychiatry Research, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Beijing, 100096, China.
authors.forename: Shuping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Center of Psychiatry Research, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Beijing, 100096, China.
authors.forename: Yanli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Center of Psychiatry Research, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Beijing, 100096, China.
authors.forename: Fengmei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Center of Psychiatry Research, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Beijing, 100096, China.
authors.forename: Yizhuang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Magnetic Research Imaging Unit, The 306th Hospital of PLA, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Magnetic Research Imaging Unit, The 306th Hospital of PLA, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Yawei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zen
authors.affiliation: Center of Psychiatry Research, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Beijing, 100096, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Center of Psychiatry Research, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Beijing, 100096, China.
authors.forename: Fude
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Center of Psychiatry Research, Beijing Huilongguan Hospital, Beijing, 100096, China.
authors.forename: Yunlong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China.
authors.forename: Dongfeng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000473:pathology; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012647:Self-Assessment
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen