Poster #S33 REDUCED DEACTIVATION IN MEDIAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX DURING AN INNER SPEECH TASK IN SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS WITH AUDITORY VERBAL HALLUCINATIONS

Abstract

prefrontal and parietal cortex, and the caudate nucleus in schizophrenia. We predicted that brain activity would positively correlate with peripheral BDNF levels during probabilistic association learning in healthy adults and that this relationship would be altered in schizophrenia. Methods: Twenty-five healthy adults and 17 people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder performed a probabilistic association learning test during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Plasma BDNF levels were measured by ELISA. Results: We found a positive correlation between circulating plasma BDNF levels and brain activity in the right parietal cortex in healthy adults. There was no relationship between plasma BDNF levels and task-related activity in the prefrontal, parietal or caudate regions in schizophrenia. A direct comparison of these relationships between groups revealed a significant difference. Discussion: This is the first study to show a relationship between peripheral BDNF levels and cortical activity during learning suggesting that plasma BDNF levels may reflect brain activity in healthy humans. The lack of relationship between plasma BDNF and task related brain activity in patients demonstrates that circulating blood BDNF is not related to frontal-parietal-striatal activity during learning in schizophrenia.