Abstract：
BACKGROUND: The striatum is thought to play a critical role in the pathophysiology and antipsychotic treatment of schizophrenia. Previous studies have revealed abnormal functional connectivity (FC) of the striatum in early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) patients. However, no prior studies have examined post-treatment changes of striatal FC in EOS patients.
METHODS: We recruited 49 first-episode drug-naïve EOS patients to have resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans at baseline and after 8 weeks of treatment with antipsychotics, along with baseline scanning of 34 healthy controls (HCs) for comparison purposes. We examined the FC values between each seed in striatal subregion and the rest of the brain. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was applied to measure psychiatric symptoms in patients.
RESULTS: Compared with HCs at baseline, EOS patients exhibited weaker FC of striatal subregions with several brain regions of the salience network and default mode network. Meanwhile, FC between the dorsal caudal putamen (DCP) and left supplementary motor area, as well as between the DCP and right postcentral gyrus, was negatively correlated with PANSS negative scores. Furthermore, after 8 weeks of treatment, EOS patients showed decreased FC between subregions of the putamen and the triangular part of inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule.
CONCLUSIONS: Decreased striatal FC is evident, even in the early stages of schizophrenia, and enhance our understanding of the neurodevelopmental abnormalities in schizophrenia. The findings also demonstrate that reduced striatal FC occurs after antipsychotic therapy, indicating that antipsychotic effects need to be accounted for when considering striatal FC abnormalities in schizophrenia.
METHODS: We recruited 49 first-episode drug-naïve EOS patients to have resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans at baseline and after 8 weeks of treatment with antipsychotics, along with baseline scanning of 34 healthy controls (HCs) for comparison purposes. We examined the FC values between each seed in striatal subregion and the rest of the brain. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was applied to measure psychiatric symptoms in patients.
RESULTS: Compared with HCs at baseline, EOS patients exhibited weaker FC of striatal subregions with several brain regions of the salience network and default mode network. Meanwhile, FC between the dorsal caudal putamen (DCP) and left supplementary motor area, as well as between the DCP and right postcentral gyrus, was negatively correlated with PANSS negative scores. Furthermore, after 8 weeks of treatment, EOS patients showed decreased FC between subregions of the putamen and the triangular part of inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule.
CONCLUSIONS: Decreased striatal FC is evident, even in the early stages of schizophrenia, and enhance our understanding of the neurodevelopmental abnormalities in schizophrenia. The findings also demonstrate that reduced striatal FC occurs after antipsychotic therapy, indicating that antipsychotic effects need to be accounted for when considering striatal FC abnormalities in schizophrenia.
摘要：
背景：纹状体被认为在精神分裂症的病理生理学和抗精神病药物治疗中起关键作用。先前的研究揭示了早发性精神分裂症（EOS）患者纹状体的功能连接异常（FC）。然而,之前没有研究检查EOS患者治疗后纹状体FC的变化.
方法：我们招募了49名首次用药的EOS患者，在基线和抗精神病药物治疗8周后进行静息状态功能磁共振成像扫描，同时对34名健康对照（HC）进行基线扫描，以进行比较。我们检查了纹状体区域中每个种子与大脑其余部分之间的FC值。应用阳性和阴性综合征量表（PANSS）测量患者的精神症状。
结果：与基线时的HC相比，EOS患者的纹状体亚区域FC较弱，具有显著性网络和默认模式网络的几个大脑区域。同时,背尾壳核（DCP）与左辅助运动区之间的FC，以及在DCP和右中央后回之间，与PANSS阴性评分呈负相关。此外，治疗8周后,EOS患者显示壳核亚区和下额回三角形部分之间的FC降低，额中回,上缘回和下顶叶小叶。
结论：纹状体FC明显减少，即使在精神分裂症的早期阶段，提高我们对精神分裂症神经发育异常的认识.研究结果还表明，抗精神病药物治疗后纹状体FC减少，这表明在考虑精神分裂症患者的纹状体FC异常时，需要考虑抗精神病药的作用。
方法：我们招募了49名首次用药的EOS患者，在基线和抗精神病药物治疗8周后进行静息状态功能磁共振成像扫描，同时对34名健康对照（HC）进行基线扫描，以进行比较。我们检查了纹状体区域中每个种子与大脑其余部分之间的FC值。应用阳性和阴性综合征量表（PANSS）测量患者的精神症状。
结果：与基线时的HC相比，EOS患者的纹状体亚区域FC较弱，具有显著性网络和默认模式网络的几个大脑区域。同时,背尾壳核（DCP）与左辅助运动区之间的FC，以及在DCP和右中央后回之间，与PANSS阴性评分呈负相关。此外，治疗8周后,EOS患者显示壳核亚区和下额回三角形部分之间的FC降低，额中回,上缘回和下顶叶小叶。
结论：纹状体FC明显减少，即使在精神分裂症的早期阶段，提高我们对精神分裂症神经发育异常的认识.研究结果还表明，抗精神病药物治疗后纹状体FC减少，这表明在考虑精神分裂症患者的纹状体FC异常时，需要考虑抗精神病药的作用。
