title: Examining hippocampal function in schizophrenia using a virtual reality spatial navigation task.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Structural pathology in the hippocampus is well-documented in schizophrenia, but brain functional changes have not been consistently found. We used spatial navigation in a virtual reality environment, a task that is known to produce robust hippocampal activation in healthy subjects, to examine task-related activations and de-activations in the disorder.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-seven DSM IV schizophrenia patients and 32 healthy controls underwent fMRI while they navigated to a goal through a virtual reality town. Activations and de-activations were examined at the whole brain level and also using a region-of-interest (ROI) in the hippocampus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Spatial navigation was associated with activation in the posterior hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus plus widespread neocortical areas. The patients showed reduced activation compared to the controls in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the left occipital/temporal cortex. No differences in hippocampal activation were seen either at the whole-brain level or in the ROI analysis. The patients showed failure of de-activation affecting some but not all subregions of the default mode network.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Schizophrenia is associated with task-related hypoactivation in the DLPFC during spatial navigation, but not with functional changes in the hippocampus. The failure of de-activation also found adds to evidence for default mode network dysfunction in the disorder.
authors.affiliation: FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: psalgado@fidmag.com.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Salgado-Pineda
authors.affiliation: FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ramón
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Landin-Romero
authors.affiliation: Benito Menni Complex Assistencial en Salut Mental, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Portillo
authors.affiliation: Benito Menni Complex Assistencial en Salut Mental, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bosque
authors.affiliation: Event Lab, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ausias
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pomes
authors.affiliation: Event Lab, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Spanlang
authors.affiliation: Hospital Sagrat Cor, CSMA Sant Feliu, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Franquelo
authors.affiliation: Hospital Mare de Dèu de la Mercé, Unitat Polivalent Barcelona Nord, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Teixido
authors.affiliation: FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarró
authors.affiliation: FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salvador
authors.affiliation: Hospital Sagrat Cor, CSMA Sant Feliu, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Spain.
authors.forename: Mel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Slater
authors.affiliation: FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Edith
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pomarol-Clotet
authors.affiliation: FIDMAG Germanes Hospitalàries Research Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: McKenna
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D065854:Spatial Navigation / Q000502:physiology*; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: Defaultmode network; Hippocampus; Schizophrenia; Spatial navigation; fMRI