title: Diminishing striatal activation across adolescent development during reward anticipation in offspring of schizophrenia patients.
abstract: Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder associated with impaired fronto-striatal functioning. Similar deficits are observed in unaffected siblings of patients, indicating that these deficits are linked to a familial risk for the disorder. Fronto-striatal deficits may arise during adolescence and precede clinical manifestation of the disorder. However, the development of the fronto-striatal network in adolescents at increased familial risk for schizophrenia is still poorly understood. In this cross-sectional study, we investigate the impact of familial risk on fronto-striatal functioning across age related to reward anticipation and receipt in 25 adolescent offspring of schizophrenia patients (SZ offspring) and 36 age-matched healthy controls (range 10-19years). Subjects performed a reward task while being scanned with functional MRI. Overall response times and the amount of money won did not differ between the groups. Striatal activation during reward anticipation decreased across age in the SZ offspring, while it did not in the healthy controls. Activation in the orbitofrontal cortex during reward receipt did not differ between the groups. These results, taken together with data from adult schizophrenia patients and their siblings, indicate that the diminishing striatal activation across adolescence may signify a familial vulnerability for schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.vink@umcutrecht.nl.
authors.forename: Matthijs
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vink
authors.affiliation: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Leeuw
authors.affiliation: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ruby
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pouwels
authors.affiliation: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hanna E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: van den Munkhof
authors.affiliation: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: René S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Kahn
authors.affiliation: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Manon
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hillegers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development / Q000502:physiology*; D059031:Anticipation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000254:growth & development / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time; D012201:Reward; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: Adolescence; Orbitofrontal cortex; Reward; Schizophrenia offspring; Striatum