Dataset Information

Cerebral and behavioral signs of impaired cognitive flexibility and stability in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

ABSTRACT: Highlights • Patients are impaired regarding both, cognitive flexibility and stability.• Deficient prediction error discrimination is related to reduced striatal activation.• Decreased ACC and hippocampus activation predicts impaired rule switch detection.• Decreased frontal and insular activation predicts impaired distractor shielding.

Background

Manifold cognitive deficits have been reported in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, including disturbances in flexible updating to altered circumstances as well as stabilization deficits in the face of distractors. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we examined the neural correlates of these deficits as two complementary components of predictive processing.

Methods

In 22 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 22 healthy matched control participants, we applied a serial predictive switch-drift task to assess flexibility as successful detection of prediction-rule switches, and stability as successfully ignoring distractors (“drifts”).

Results

Patients compared with controls less reliably detected rule switches and also less efficiently inhibited drifts. A reduced striatal response to switches or drifts correlated with weaker switch-drift-discrimination in patients, suggesting impaired gating of prediction errors. The increase in activity in anterior cingulate cortex and hippocampus for detected vs. undetected switches was reduced in patients compared to controls, which may reflect impaired behavioral adaptation following prediction errors. The comparison between shielding against distractions and undetected switches showed increased activity in the inferior frontal cortex and posterior insula in controls but not in patients.

Conclusion

Our results suggest new insights into the specific disruption of predictive flexibility and stability in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, which is characterized by impaired striatal gating and inadequate cortical encoding of predictive errors.

SUBMITTER: Standke I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8551223 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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