Altered brain connectivity in patients with schizophrenia is consistent across cognitive contexts.
Schizophrenia has been defined as a dysconnection syndrome characterized by aberrant functional brain connectivity. Using task-based fMRI, we assessed to what extent the nature of the cognitive context may further modulate abnormal functional brain connectivity.



We analyzed data matched for motion in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls who performed 3 different tasks. Tasks 1 and 2 both involved emotional processing and only slighlty differed (incidental encoding v. memory recognition), whereas task 3 was a much different mental rotation task. We conducted a connectome-wide general linear model analysis aimed at identifying context-dependent and independent functional brain connectivity alterations in patients with schizophrenia.



After matching for motion, we included 30 patients with schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls in our study. Abnormal connectivity in patients with schizophrenia followed similar patterns regardless of the degree of similarity between cognitive tasks. Decreased connectivity was most notable in the medial prefrontal cortex, the anterior and posterior cingulate, the temporal lobe, the lobule IX of the cerebellum and the premotor cortex.



A more circumscribed yet significant context-dependent effect might be detected with larger sample sizes or cognitive domains other than emotional and visuomotor processing.



The context-independence of functional brain dysconnectivity in patients with schizophrenia provides a good justification for pooling data from multiple experiments in order to identify connectivity biomarkers of this mental illness.
From the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Orban); the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Namur, Belgium (Desseilles); the Department of Psychology, Bishop's University, Sherbrooke, Que., Canada (Mendrek); the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Bourque); the Department of Computer Sciences and Operational Research, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Bellec); and the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Stip).
Pierre
P
Orban
From the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Orban); the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Namur, Belgium (Desseilles); the Department of Psychology, Bishop's University, Sherbrooke, Que., Canada (Mendrek); the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Bourque); the Department of Computer Sciences and Operational Research, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Bellec); and the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Stip).
Martin
M
Desseilles
From the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Orban); the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Namur, Belgium (Desseilles); the Department of Psychology, Bishop's University, Sherbrooke, Que., Canada (Mendrek); the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Bourque); the Department of Computer Sciences and Operational Research, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Bellec); and the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Stip).
Adrianna
A
Mendrek
From the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Orban); the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Namur, Belgium (Desseilles); the Department of Psychology, Bishop's University, Sherbrooke, Que., Canada (Mendrek); the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Bourque); the Department of Computer Sciences and Operational Research, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Bellec); and the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Stip).
Josiane
J
Bourque
From the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Orban); the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Namur, Belgium (Desseilles); the Department of Psychology, Bishop's University, Sherbrooke, Que., Canada (Mendrek); the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Bourque); the Department of Computer Sciences and Operational Research, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Bellec); and the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Stip).
Pierre
P
Bellec
From the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Orban); the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Namur, Belgium (Desseilles); the Department of Psychology, Bishop's University, Sherbrooke, Que., Canada (Mendrek); the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Bourque); the Department of Computer Sciences and Operational Research, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Bellec); and the Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Que., Canada (Stip).
Emmanuel
E
Stip
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D063132:Connectome; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D012399:Rotation; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*