Abstract
BackgroundAltered ventral striatal (vST) activation to reward expectancy is a well-established intermediate phenotype for psychiatric disorders, specifically schizophrenia (SZ). Preclinical research suggests that striatal alterations are related to a reduced inhibition by the hippocampal formation, but its role in human transdiagnostic reward-network dysfunctions is not well understood. MethodsWe performed functional magnetic resonance imaging during reward processing in 728 individuals including healthy control subjects (n = 396), patients (SZ: n = 46; bipolar disorder: n = 45; major depressive disorder: n = 60), and unaffected first-degree relatives (SZ: n = 46; bipolar disorder: n = 50; major depressive disorder: n = 85). We assessed disorder-specific differences in functional vST-hippocampus coupling and transdiagnostic associations with dimensional measures of positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. We also probed the genetic underpinning using polygenic risk scores for SZ in a subset of healthy participants (n = 295). ResultsFunctional vST-hippocampus coupling was 1) reduced in patients with SZ and bipolar disorder (pFWE < .05, small-volume corrected [SVC]); 2) associated transdiagnostically to dimensional measures of positive (pFWE = .01, SVC) and cognitive (pFWE = .02, SVC), but not negative, (pFWE > .05, SVC) symptoms; and 3) reduced in first-degree relatives of patients with SZ (pFWE = .017, SVC) and linked to the genetic risk for SZ in healthy participants (p = .035). ConclusionsWe provide evidence that reduced vST-hippocampus coupling during reward processing is an endophenotype for SZ linked to positive and cognitive symptoms, supporting current preclinical models of the emergence of psychosis. Moreover, our data indicate that vST-hippocampus coupling is familial and linked to polygenic scores for SZ, supporting the use of this measure as an intermediate phenotype for psychotic disorders.
Highlights
Altered ventral striatal activation to reward expectancy is a well-established intermediate phenotype for psychiatric disorders, schizophrenia (SZ)
Consistent with our previous study [11], ventral striatal (vST) activation was reduced in patients with SZ and bipolar disorder (BP) but not major depressive disorder (MD)
Post hoc tests indicated that compared with HC subjects, vSThippocampus coupling was reduced in patients with SZ and BP but not MD
Summary
Altered ventral striatal (vST) activation to reward expectancy is a well-established intermediate phenotype for psychiatric disorders, schizophrenia (SZ). We assessed disorder-specific differences in functional vST-hippocampus coupling and transdiagnostic associations with dimensional measures of positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. RESULTS: Functional vST-hippocampus coupling was 1) reduced in patients with SZ and bipolar disorder (pFWE , .05, small-volume corrected [SVC]); 2) associated transdiagnostically to dimensional measures of positive (pFWE = .01, SVC) and cognitive (pFWE = .02, SVC), but not negative, .05, SVC) symptoms; and 3) reduced in first-degree relatives of patients with SZ (pFWE = .017, SVC) and linked to the genetic risk for SZ in healthy participants (p = .035). CONCLUSIONS: We provide evidence that reduced vST-hippocampus coupling during reward processing is an endophenotype for SZ linked to positive and cognitive symptoms, supporting current preclinical models of the emergence of psychosis. Our data indicate that vST-hippocampus coupling is familial and linked to polygenic scores for SZ, supporting the use of this measure as an intermediate phenotype for psychotic disorders
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