Functional and anatomical connectivity abnormalities in cognitive division of anterior cingulate cortex in schizophrenia - PubMed (original) (raw)
Functional and anatomical connectivity abnormalities in cognitive division of anterior cingulate cortex in schizophrenia
Hao Yan et al. PLoS One. 2012.
Abstract
Introduction: Current pathophysiological theories of schizophrenia highlight the role of altered brain functional and anatomical connectivity. The cognitive division of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC-cd) is a commonly reported abnormal brain region in schizophrenia for its importance in cognitive control process. The aim of this study was to investigate the functional and anatomical connectivity of ACC-cd and its cognitive and clinical manifestation significance in schizophrenia by using the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
Methods: Thirty-three medicated schizophrenics and 30 well-matched health controls were recruited. Region-of-interest (ROI)-based resting-state functional connectivity analysis and Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) were performed on 30 patients and 30 controls, and 24 patients and 29 controls, respectively. The Pearson correlation was performed between the imaging measures and the Stroop performance and scores of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), respectively.
Results: Patients with schizophrenia showed significantly abnormal in the functional connectivity and its hemispheric asymmetry of the ACC-cd with multiple brain areas, e.g., decreased positive connectivity with the bilateral putamen and caudate, increased negative connectivity with the left posterior cingulated cortex (PCC), increased asymmetry of connectivity strength with the contralateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). The FA of the right anterior cingulum was significantly decreased in patients group (p=0.014). The abnormal functional and structural connectivity of ACC-cd were correlated with Stroop performance and the severity of the symptoms in patients.
Conclusions: Our results suggested that the abnormal connectivity of the ACC-cd might play a role in the cognitive impairment and clinical symptoms in schizophrenia.
Conflict of interest statement
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Figures
Figure 1. Functional connectivity networks of left and right ACC-cd.
(A) Functional connectivity networks of ACC-cd in healthy controls. (B) Functional connectivity networks of ACC-cd in patients with schizophrenia. Significantly positive (warm color) and negative (cool color) connectivity for bilateral ACC-cd seeds are presented in sagittal (X = ±6 for right and left seeds respectively) and axial (Z = 0) view in MNI space, for both LACC-cd and RACC-cd. Color bar indicates the t-value. (C) The regions of interest (ROIs) definition.
Figure 2. The regions of interest (ROIs) for anterior cingulum.
The blue and red regions indicate the left and right anterior cingulum respectively. The green regions indicate the mean FA skeleton for all participants.
Figure 3. Brain regions showing significant hemispheric asymmetry of functional connectivity with ACC-cd.
Hemispheric asymmetry of functional network of ACC-cd in healthy controls (A) and patients with schizophrenia (B). The foci in the right side show significant asymmetric functional connectivity with their ipsilateral ACC-cd, and foci in the left side show significant asymmetric functional connectivity with their contralateral ACC-cd. Color bar indicates the t-value. IH, ipsilateral hemisphere; CH, contralateral hemisphere; Dec, declive; IFG, inferior frontal gyrus; dPCC, dorsal posterior cingulate cortex; IPL, inferior parietal lobe; SMA, supplementary motor ares; PMA, premotor area; PCu, precuneus.
Figure 4. Brain regions showing significantly altered connectivity in positive functional networks and negative functional networks with LACC-cd and RACC-cd in patients with schizophrenia.
In the positive networks, cool color indicates decreased or lost positive connectivity in patients. In the negative networks, cool color indicates increased negative connectivity, and warm color indicates decreased or lost negative connectivity. Color bar indicates the t-value. Puta, putamen; Caud, caudate; ACC, anterior cingulate cortex; MFG, medial prefrontal gyrus; Tha, thalamus; IFG, inferior frontal gyrus; PCu, precuneus; PCC, posterior cingulate cortex; IPL, inferior parietal lobule; SMC, sensorimotor cortex.
Figure 5. Hemispheric asymmetry of functional network abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia.
(A) Brain regions showing significantly altered hemispheric asymmetry of functional connectivity of ACC-cd in patients with schizophrenia. (B) _Z_-values of peak voxel for the contralateral and ipsilateral IFG in the left and right ACC-cd networks in both groups. (1) Increased asymmetry in contralateral IFG. (2) Increased asymmetry in ipsilateral IFG. (3) Increased asymmetry in contralateral IPL. (4) Lost asymmetry in Mid-FG. IFG, inferior frontal gyrus; IPL, inferior parietal lobule; Mid-FG, middle frontal gyrus. *p<0.05; **p<0.001.
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