title: Impaired white matter connectivity between regions containing mirror neurons, and relationship to negative symptoms and social cognition, in patients with first-episode schizophrenia.
abstract: In schizophrenia, abnormalities in structural connectivity between brain regions known to contain mirror neurons and their relationship to negative symptoms related to a domain of social cognition are not well understood. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans were acquired in 16 patients with first episode schizophrenia and 16 matched healthy controls. FA and Trace of the tracts interconnecting regions known to be rich in mirror neurons, i.e., anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), inferior parietal lobe (IPL) and premotor cortex (PMC) were evaluated. A significant group effect for Trace was observed in IPL-PMC white matter fiber tract (F (1, 28) = 7.13, p = .012), as well as in the PMC-ACC white matter fiber tract (F (1, 28) = 4.64, p = .040). There were no group differences in FA. In addition, patients with schizophrenia showed a significant positive correlation between the Trace of the left IPL-PMC white matter fiber tract, and the Ability to Feel Intimacy and Closeness score (rho = .57, p = 0.034), and a negative correlation between the Trace of the left PMC-ACC and the Relationships with Friends and Peers score (rho = remove -.54, p = 0.049). We have demonstrated disrupted white mater microstructure within the white matter tracts subserving brain regions containing mirror neurons. We further showed that such structural disruptions might impact negative symptoms and, more specifically, contribute to the inability to feel intimacy (a measure conceptually related to theory of mind) in first episode schizophrenia. Further studies are needed to understand the potential of our results for diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic interventions.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.|Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA. kubicki@bwh.harvard.edu.|VA Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Division, Brockton, MA, USA. kubicki@bwh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kubicki
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.|Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatic, and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilian-University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Inga
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Koerte
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Tatsui
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Otsuka
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Yogesh
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rathi
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Ofer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pasternak
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bouix
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eckbo
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Zora
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kikinis
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.|Massachusetts Mental Health Center Public Psychiatry Division of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Christian Clemm
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: von Hohenberg
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Tomohide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Roppongi
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Del Re
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Asami
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Sang-Hyuk
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Sarina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karmacharya
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Raquelle I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Mesholam-Gately
authors.affiliation: VA Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Division, Brockton, MA, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Larry J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Seidman
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Levitt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: McCarley
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Martha E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Shenton
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1249 Street Boston, Boylston, MA, 02215, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Niznikiewicz
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003071:Cognition; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D059167:Mirror Neurons; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012938:Social Perception; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Diffusion tensor imaging; First-episode schizophrenia; Mirror neuron; White matter connectivity