Abnormal resting state FMRI activity predicts processing speed deficits in first-episode psychosis

Neuropsychopharmacology. 2015 Jun;40(7):1631-9. doi: 10.1038/npp.2015.7. Epub 2015 Jan 8.

Abstract

Little is known regarding the neuropsychological significance of resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) activity early in the course of psychosis. Moreover, no studies have used different approaches for analysis of rs-fMRI activity and examined gray matter thickness in the same cohort. In this study, 41 patients experiencing a first-episode of psychosis (including N=17 who were antipsychotic drug-naive at the time of scanning) and 41 individually age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers completed rs-fMRI and structural MRI exams and neuropsychological assessments. We computed correlation matrices for 266 regions-of-interest across the brain to assess global connectivity. In addition, independent component analysis (ICA) was used to assess group differences in the expression of rs-fMRI activity within 20 predefined publicly available templates. Patients demonstrated lower overall rs-fMRI global connectivity compared with healthy volunteers without associated group differences in gray matter thickness assessed within the same regions-of-interest used in this analysis. Similarly, ICA revealed worse rs-fMRI expression scores across all 20 networks in patients compared with healthy volunteers, with posthoc analyses revealing significant (p<0.05; corrected) abnormalities within the caudate nucleus and planum temporale. Worse processing speed correlated significantly with overall lower global connectivity using the region-of-interest approach and lower expression scores within the planum temporale using ICA. Our findings implicate dysfunction in rs-fMRI activity in first-episode psychosis prior to extensive antipsychotic treatment using different analytic approaches (in the absence of concomitant gray matter structural differences) that predict processing speed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Antipsychotic Agents
  • Cerebral Cortex / blood supply*
  • Cerebral Cortex / pathology*
  • Female
  • Functional Laterality
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Mental Disorders / classification
  • Mental Disorders / complications*
  • Mental Disorders / drug therapy
  • Mental Disorders / pathology*
  • Movement Disorders / diagnosis
  • Movement Disorders / etiology*
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Oxygen / blood
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Principal Component Analysis
  • Rest*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antipsychotic Agents
  • Oxygen