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Functional neuroimaging of word priming in males with chronic schizophrenia.

ABSTRACT: Word-priming studies have suggested that the associative disturbance of schizophrenia may reflect aberrant spread of activation through the lexicon of the brain. To explore this, we examined lexical activation using a semantic word-priming paradigm coupled with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We also wanted to determine whether brain activation to this paradigm correlated with relevant clinical symptom measures. In addition to completing clinical symptom measures, twelve chronic patients and twelve demographically matched control subjects completed a lexical-decision semantic-priming paradigm developed as an event-related BOLD fMRI task. This paradigm consisted of words that differed in connectivity. Words with many connections between shared semantic associates are considered high in connectivity and produce the largest behavioral semantic priming effects in control subjects, while words with few connections between shared semantic associates are considered low in connectivity and produce a relatively smaller amount of semantic priming. In fMRI, a respective step-wise increase in activation from high connectivity to low connectivity to unrelated word pairs was expected for normal subjects. Controls showed the expected pattern of activation to word connectivity; however, patients showed a less robust pattern of activation to word connectivity. Furthermore, this aberrant response correlated with measures of Auditory Hallucinations, Distractive Speech, Illogicality, and Incoherence. The patients did not display left frontal and temporal activation as a function of the degree of word connectivity as seen in healthy controls. This may reflect a disease-related disturbance in functional connectivity of lexical activation, which in turn may be associated with clinical symptomatology.

SUBMITTER: Han SD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1852450 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Functional neuroimaging of word priming in males with chronic schizophrenia.

Han S Duke SD Nestor Paul G PG Hale-Spencer Magdalena M Cohen Adam A Niznikiewicz Margaret M McCarley Robert W RW Wible Cynthia G CG

NeuroImage 20070109 1

Word-priming studies have suggested that the associative disturbance of schizophrenia may reflect aberrant spread of activation through the lexicon of the brain. To explore this, we examined lexical activation using a semantic word-priming paradigm coupled with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We also wanted to determine whether brain activation to this paradigm correlated with relevant clinical symptom measures. In addition to completing clinical symptom measures, twelve chronic pa ...[more]

PMID: 17215145

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Project description:PurposeStudies show that deficit syndrome schizophrenia patients, characterized by primary negative symptoms and poor functional outcome, have impairment in specific neural circuits. We assessed whether these same neural circuits are directly linked to functional outcomes across schizophrenia patients.MethodsT1- and diffusion-weighted MR images were obtained for schizophrenia (n=30) and matched healthy control participants (n=30). Negative symptoms and functional outcome were assessed at baseline and 6-month follow-up. Cortical thickness and tract-wise fractional anisotropy (FA) were compared between groups. To assess relationships of neuroimaging measures with functional outcome, principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on tract-wise FA values and components were entered into a multiple regression model for schizophrenia participants.ResultsConsistent with the literature, schizophrenia participants showed frontotemporal reductions in cortical thickness and tract-wise FA compared to controls. The top two components from PCA explained 71% of the variance in tract-wise FA values. The second component (associated with inferior longitudinal and arcuate fasciculus FA) was significantly correlated with functional outcome (baseline: β=0.54, p=0.03; follow-up: β=0.74, p=0.047); further analysis revealed this effect was mediated by negative symptoms. Post-hoc network analysis revealed increased cortical coupling between right inferior frontal and supramarginal gyri (connected by the arcuate fasciculus) in schizophrenia participants with poorer functional outcome.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that impairment in the same neural circuitry susceptible in deficit syndrome schizophrenia predicts functional outcome in a continuous manner in schizophrenia participants. This relationship was mediated by negative symptom burden. Our findings provide novel evidence for brain-based biomarkers of longitudinal functional outcome in people with schizophrenia.

Dataset Information

Functional neuroimaging of word priming in males with chronic schizophrenia.

Publications

Functional neuroimaging of word priming in males with chronic schizophrenia.

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