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Simultaneously decreased temporal variability and enhanced variability-strength coupling of emotional network connectivities are related to positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia

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Abstract

We hypothesize that decreased temporal variability of emotional network connectivities, corresponding to a continual state of hyperactivity, may play a role in mediating symptoms in schizophrenia. Resting-state magnetic resonance data were collected from 64 subjects, including 21 positive symptom profile schizophrenia patients (PSZ group), 19 negative symptom profile schizophrenia patients (NSZ group), and 24 healthy controls. The emotional brain network was defined based on the coordinates obtained from multi-level kernel density analysis. The temporal variability of intra-network functional connectivities (FCs) was calculated by constructing networks from blood oxygen level-dependent signals at successive, non-overlapping time windows, and was compared between groups. The results showed that the mean FC-variability of the whole emotional network (P = 0.021), and the FC-variabilities in the bilateral anterior insula (both, P < 0.001) were significantly decreased in the PSZ group compared with the control and NSZ groups. Abnormally enhanced negative coupling between variability and FC strength (V-S coupling) was observed in the PSZ group (P = 0.027). In summary, this study found a relation between the positive symptoms of schizophrenia and decreased variability of emotional network connectivities. These findings may help us better understand the neurobiological effect of the time-varying properties of the brain network in schizophrenia patients, and the underlying relation to the generation of psychosis.

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Funding

The study was supported by the grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81801682, No. 81701674, and No. 31640028), and also supported by the grant from Guangdong Natural Science Foundation (No. 2018030310296).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Yanjia Deng and Shuguang Han contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medical Imaging, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221006, China

    Yanjia Deng, Shuguang Han, Hui Li & Kai Liu

  2. Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221006, China

    Yanjia Deng, Shuguang Han, Hui Li & Kai Liu

  3. Department of Radiology, the First People’s Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, China

    Dongliang Cheng

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

    Bin Zhang

  5. Lab of Image Science and Technology, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China

    Youyong Kong

  6. Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University (Guangzhou Huiai Hospital), Guangzhou, China

    Yong Lin

  7. Department of Ultrasonography, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

    Yingjia Li

  8. Medical Imaging Department, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, No.1023, South Shatai Road, Baiyun District, Guangzhou, China

    Ge Wen

Authors
  1. Yanjia Deng
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  9. Ge Wen
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  10. Kai Liu
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Contributions

Conception and study design (Yanjia Deng, Kai Liu, and Ge Wen). Data collection and acquisition (Dongliang Chen, Ge Wen, and Yingjia Li). Imaging data and statistical analyses (Kai Liu, Shuguang Han, and Youyong Kong). Assessment of the clinical data (Yong Lin and Bin Zhang). Drafting the manuscript (Yanjia Deng and Kai Liu). Revising the manuscript (Shuguang Han, Hui Li, and Bin Zhang). Approval of final version to be published and agreement to be accountable for the integrity and accuracy of all aspects of the work (All authors).

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ge Wen or Kai Liu.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional ethical committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Deng, Y., Han, S., Cheng, D. et al. Simultaneously decreased temporal variability and enhanced variability-strength coupling of emotional network connectivities are related to positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Brain Imaging and Behavior 15, 76–84 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-019-00234-0

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