Association of white matter abnormality with facial emotion cognitive in the first-episode schizophrenic patients with never-medicated

Abstract

Objective To explore the structure changes of white matter in the first-episode schizophrenic patients with never-medicated(FESZ) and the relationship between facial emotion perception and white matter (WM) integrity. Methods Sixty-three schizophrenic patients and thirty health control subjects underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans.Voxel-based analysis was used to compared fractional anisotropy (FA) map between the two groups.Correlations were analyzed with pearson relative analysis between impaired facial emotion perception tested by facial emotion categorization (FEC) and severity of symptoms measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Results (1)Compared with controls, FESZ patients showed overall decreased FA in WM of the body of left ventral frontal lobe ((MNI(x, y, z): -18, 26, -4; t=4.43)), right supramarginal gyrus ((MNI(x, y, z): 32, -50, 26; t=4.27)), left middle occipital gyral ((MNI(x, y, z): -26, -60, 0; t=4.89)), right middle occipital gyral ((MNI(x, y, z): 28, -70, 14; t=4.18)), left fusiform gyrus ((MNI(x, y, z): -40, -50, 0; t=3.92)), left cerebellum anterior lobe ((MNI(x, y, z): -32, -56, -28; t=4.57)), right parahippocampa gyrus1 ((MNI(x, y, z): 32, -10, -14; t=4.16)), right parahippocampa gyrus2 ((MNI(x, y, z): 16, -6, -14; t=4.56)), left anterior cingulate ((MNI(x, y, z): -2, 4, -6; t=4.41)), left extra-nuclear ((MNI(x, y, z): -2, -10, -6; t=4.44)), right thalamus ((MNI(x, y, z): 10, -10, 2; t=4.20)), left thalamus ((MNI(x, y, z): -22, -28, 12; t=4.01)), and right caudate ((MNI(x, y, z): 14, 12, 8; t=4.87)). (2)Compared with controls, the patients with schizophrenia showed a higher shift point and a steeper slope than control subjects in FEC.Correlational analysis revealed that the negative correlations were found between the slope and negative factor(r=-0.298, P=0.036), between positive factor and the FA value in WM of the right middle occipital gyral(r=-0.322, P=0.023) and the left middle occipital gyral(r=-0.288, P=0.043), and between the FA value in the left cerebellum anterior lobe and shift point(r=-0.393, P=0.005), but the positive correlation was found between disorganized/concrete factor and the FA value in the right parahippocampal gyrus(r=0.429, P=0.002). Conclusions There are extensive microstructural abnormalities in WM of patients with FESZ.Disrupted WM integrity in these regions may constitute a potential neural pathological basis for the facial emotion perception impairments in schizophrenia. Key words: Schizophrenia; Facial emotion perception; Diffusion tensor imaging; White matter