title: Decreased Functional Connectivity of Insular Cortex in Drug Naïve First Episode Schizophrenia: In Relation to Symptom Severity.
abstract: This study was to examine the insular cortical functional connectivity in drug naïve patients with first episode schizophrenia and to explore the relationship between the connectivity and the severity of clinical symptoms.
  
  
  
  Thirty-seven drug naïve patients with schizophrenia and 25 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. A seed-based approach was used to analyze the resting-state functional imaging data. Insular cortical connectivity maps were bilaterally extracted for group comparison and validated by voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis. Clinical symptoms were measured using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).
  
  
  
  There were significant reductions in the right insular cortical connectivity with the Heschl's gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and caudate (p's<0.001) in the patient group compared with the healthy control (HC) group. Reduced right insular cortical connectivity with the Heschl's gyrus was further confirmed in the VBM analysis (FDR corrected p<0.05). Within the patient group, there was a significant positive relationship between the right insula-Heschl's connectivity and PANSS general psychopathology scores (r = 0.384, p = 0.019).
  
  
  
  Reduced insula-Heschl's functional connectivity is present in drug naïve patients with first episode schizophrenia, which might be related to the manifestation of clinical symptoms.
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: Lijuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qinling
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Henan Province Biological Psychiatry Key Laboratory, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.|Henan Province Mental Hospital, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
authors.forename: Luxian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jinsong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Meina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Henan Province Biological Psychiatry Key Laboratory, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.|Henan Province Mental Hospital, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
authors.forename: Yongfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Xiaoduo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xueqin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult