The Relationship Between Abnormal Resting-State Functional Connectivity of the Left Superior Frontal Gyrus and Cognitive Impairments in Youth-Onset Drug-Naïve Schizophrenia.

Xiaolei Qiu,Min Zhou,Rongrong Zhang,Shiping Xie,Jinglun Du,Aoshuang Zhang,Shuiping Lu,Wei Yan

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.679642

Xiaolei Qiu, Min Zhou + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.679642

Copy DOI

Abstract

Objective: Age of onset is one of the heterogeneous factors in schizophrenia, and an earlier onset of the disease indicated a worse prognosis. The left superior frontal gyrus (SFG) is involved in numerous cognitive and motor control tasks. Hence, we explored the relationship between abnormal changes in SFG resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) and cognitive function in the peak age of incidence to understand better the pathophysiological mechanism in youth-onset drug-naïve schizophrenia to search for reliable biomarkers.Methods: About 66 youth-onset drug-naïve schizophrenia patients and 59 healthy controls (HCs) were included in this study. Abnormal connectivity changes in the left SFG and whole brain were measured using the region of interest (ROI) rsFC analysis method. The cognitive function was assessed using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB), and the severity of the clinical symptoms was evaluated by positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS). Furthermore, we analyzed the relationships among abnormal FC values, cognition scores, and clinical symptoms.Results: We found decreased FC between left SFG and bilateral precuneus (PCUN), right hippocampus, right parahippocampal gyrus, left thalamus, left caudate, insula, and right superior parietal lobule (SPL), whereas increased FC was seen between the left SFG and right middle frontal gyrus (MFG) in the youth-onset drug-naïve schizophrenia group, compared with HCs. Meanwhile, the T-scores were lower in each cognitive domain than HCs. Moreover, in the youth-onset drug-naive schizophrenia group, the insula was negatively correlated with processing speed. No significant correlations were found between the FC-value and PANSS score.Conclusions: Our findings suggest widespread FC network abnormalities in the left SFG and widespread cognitive impairments in the early stages of schizophrenia. The dysfunctional connectivity of the left SFG may be a potential pathophysiological mechanism in youth-onset drug-naïve schizophrenia.

Highlights

Schizophrenia is a highly heterogeneous severe mental disorder [1]
It was hypothesized that [1] compared with a healthy control (HC) group, patients with youth-onset drug-naïve schizophrenia would show abnormal functional connectivity of the left SFG; [2] the cognitive function of the schizophrenia group decreased significantly in various cognitive domains; and [3] we explored whether the brain areas with abnormal left SFG FC were related to cognitive and clinical symptoms
Considering the cognitive level can be influenced by intelligence quotient (IQ), the effects of IQ were

Summary

Introduction

Age of onset is an important confounding factor, with the peak onset at 16–25 years old. This age group is defined as youth-onset schizophrenia [2,3,4,5]. A second small peak occurs after the age of 40 years old, referred to as late-onset schizophrenia. Compared with late-onset schizophrenia, youthonset schizophrenia experiences fewer life changes and stressors essential for the disease’s occurrence and development [6]. The earlier the age of onset, the more serious the clinical symptoms and cognitive impairments and the heavier the burden to the society and family. The study of schizophrenia at peak ages may provide abundant evidence to understand neurodevelopmental abnormalities in schizophrenia

Methods

Results

Conclusion