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Davies C, Bossong MG, Martins D, Wilson R, Appiah-Kusi E, Blest-Hopley G, Zelaya F, Allen P, Brammer M, Perez J, McGuire P, Bhattacharyya S. Increased hippocampal blood flow in people at clinical high risk for psychosis and effects of cannabidiol. Psychol Med 2024; 54:993-1003. [PMID: 37845827 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291723002775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hippocampal hyperperfusion has been observed in people at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR), is associated with adverse longitudinal outcomes and represents a potential treatment target for novel pharmacotherapies. Whether cannabidiol (CBD) has ameliorative effects on hippocampal blood flow (rCBF) in CHR patients remains unknown. METHODS Using a double-blind, parallel-group design, 33 CHR patients were randomized to a single oral 600 mg dose of CBD or placebo; 19 healthy controls did not receive any drug. Hippocampal rCBF was measured using Arterial Spin Labeling. We examined differences relating to CHR status (controls v. placebo), effects of CBD in CHR (placebo v. CBD) and linear between-group relationships, such that placebo > CBD > controls or controls > CBD > placebo, using a combination of hypothesis-driven and exploratory wholebrain analyses. RESULTS Placebo-treated patients had significantly higher hippocampal rCBF bilaterally (all pFWE<0.01) compared to healthy controls. There were no suprathreshold effects in the CBD v. placebo contrast. However, we found a significant linear relationship in the right hippocampus (pFWE = 0.035) such that rCBF was highest in the placebo group, lowest in controls and intermediate in the CBD group. Exploratory wholebrain results replicated previous findings of hyperperfusion in the hippocampus, striatum and midbrain in CHR patients, and provided novel evidence of increased rCBF in inferior-temporal and lateral-occipital regions in patients under CBD compared to placebo. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that hippocampal blood flow is elevated in the CHR state and may be partially normalized by a single dose of CBD. CBD therefore merits further investigation as a potential novel treatment for this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cathy Davies
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Matthijs G Bossong
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht Brain Center, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Daniel Martins
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Robin Wilson
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Elizabeth Appiah-Kusi
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Grace Blest-Hopley
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Fernando Zelaya
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Paul Allen
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Michael Brammer
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Jesus Perez
- CAMEO Early Intervention Service, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
- Institute of Biomedical Research (IBSAL), Department of Medicine, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Philip McGuire
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, UK
- Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK
| | - Sagnik Bhattacharyya
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
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Anticevic A, Halassa MM. The thalamus in psychosis spectrum disorder. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1163600. [PMID: 37123374 PMCID: PMC10133512 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1163600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Psychosis spectrum disorder (PSD) affects 1% of the world population and results in a lifetime of chronic disability, causing devastating personal and economic consequences. Developing new treatments for PSD remains a challenge, particularly those that target its core cognitive deficits. A key barrier to progress is the tenuous link between the basic neurobiological understanding of PSD and its clinical phenomenology. In this perspective, we focus on a key opportunity that combines innovations in non-invasive human neuroimaging with basic insights into thalamic regulation of functional cortical connectivity. The thalamus is an evolutionary conserved region that forms forebrain-wide functional loops critical for the transmission of external inputs as well as the construction and update of internal models. We discuss our perspective across four lines of evidence: First, we articulate how PSD symptomatology may arise from a faulty network organization at the macroscopic circuit level with the thalamus playing a central coordinating role. Second, we discuss how recent animal work has mechanistically clarified the properties of thalamic circuits relevant to regulating cortical dynamics and cognitive function more generally. Third, we present human neuroimaging evidence in support of thalamic alterations in PSD, and propose that a similar "thalamocortical dysconnectivity" seen in pharmacological imaging (under ketamine, LSD and THC) in healthy individuals may link this circuit phenotype to the common set of symptoms in idiopathic and drug-induced psychosis. Lastly, we synthesize animal and human work, and lay out a translational path for biomarker and therapeutic development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Anticevic
- School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
- *Correspondence: Alan Anticevic,
| | - Michael M. Halassa
- Department of Neuroscience, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States
- Michael M. Halassa,
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3
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Teixeira AL, Hansen RM, Wozny JS, Schaefer CM, Machado-Vieira R, Shahani L, Lane SD, Soares JC, Krause TM. Incidence rate of psychiatric disorders in 2020: The pivotal role played by SARS-CoV-2 infection. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0274330. [PMID: 36137136 PMCID: PMC9498971 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Importance The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly impacted mental health outcomes. While the frequency of anxiety and depressive symptoms has increased in the whole population, the relationship between COVID-19 and new psychiatric diagnoses remains unclear. Objective To compare the population incidence rate of emergence of de novo psychiatric disorders in 2020 compared to the previous years, and to compare the incidence rate of new psychiatric disorder diagnoses between people with vs without COVID-19. Design, setting, and participants This study utilized administrative claims data from the Clinformatics® Data Mart database, licensed from Optum®. The study is a cross-sectional analysis that compared the incidence rate of new psychiatric disorders in 2020 vs. 2018 and 2019 in the entire insured population database. Subsequently, the incidence of new psychiatric disorders in people with vs. without COVID-19 during 2020 was analyzed. Exposure The exposures included diagnosis and severity of COVID-19 infection. Main outcomes measures The dependent variables of interest were the incidence rates of new psychiatric disorders, specifically schizophrenia spectrum disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Results The population studied included 10,463,672 US adults (mean age 52.83, 52% female) who were unique people for the year of 2020. Incidence of newly diagnosed psychiatric disorders per 1,000 individuals in the 2020 whole population were 28.81 (CI: 28.71, 28.92) for anxiety disorders, 1.04 (CI: 1.02, 1.06) for schizophrenia disorders, 0.42 (CI: 0.41, 0.43) for OCD and 28.85 (CI: 28.75, 28.95) for mood disorders. These rates were not significantly higher than 2018 or 2019. When comparing incidence rates between COVID-19 vs. non-COVID-19 populations in 2020, the rates were significantly higher in the COVID-19 population: 46.89 (CI: 46.24, 47.53) for anxiety, 49.31 (CI: 48.66, 49.97) for mood disorders, 0.57 (CI: 0.50, 0.65) for OCD, and 3.52 (CI: 3.34, 3.70) for schizophrenia. COVID-19 severity was significantly associated with new diagnoses of schizophrenia, anxiety and mood disorders in multivariate analyses. Conclusions Compared to 2018 and 2019, in 2020 there was no increased incidence of new psychiatric disorders in the general population based on insurance claims data. Importantly, people with COVID-19 were more likely to be diagnosed with a new psychiatric disorder, most notably disorders with psychosis, indicating a potential association between COVID-19 and mental/brain health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio L. Teixeira
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Regina M. Hansen
- School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Joseph S. Wozny
- School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Caroline M. Schaefer
- School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Rodrigo Machado-Vieira
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Lokesh Shahani
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Scott D. Lane
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Jair C. Soares
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Trudy M. Krause
- School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States of America
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Hudak R, Rasmussen A. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Schizophrenia: Conceptualization, Assessment and Cognitive Behavioral Treatment. J Cogn Psychother 2022; 36:247-267. [PMID: 35882538 DOI: 10.1891/jcp-2021-0008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
There is little doubt that schizophrenia (SZ) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are among the most severe disorders to impact humanity. They are both common, significantly disabling and have the tendency to strike during critical developmental periods in a young person's life. Schizophrenia affects approximately 1% of the global population and OCD has a lifetime prevalence of between 2% and 3% in the general population. The comorbidities in both SZ and OCD are common and frequently diagnosed, and research has generally found that comorbidities are associated with conditions that are more complex to diagnose and treat, and often result in less favorable prognoses. We review the research that has taken place regarding the co-occurrence of SZ and OCD, discuss it's theoretical conceptulization and clinical differentiation and diagnosis. We then propose recommendations for the best practice of cognitive behavioral therapy in this difficult population, as well as areas that need exploration for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Hudak
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
| | - Amy Rasmussen
- Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Bradley Hospital
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5
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Samson GD, Lahti AC, Kraguljac NV. The neural substrates of neurological soft signs in schizophrenia: a systematic review. SCHIZOPHRENIA (HEIDELBERG, GERMANY) 2022; 8:42. [PMID: 35853869 PMCID: PMC9261110 DOI: 10.1038/s41537-022-00245-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Neurological soft signs (NSS) are common in patients with schizophrenia. However, the neural substrates of NSS remain poorly understood. Using legacy PubMed, we performed a systematic review and included studies that assessed NSS and obtained neuroimaging data in patients with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder published up to June 2020. We systematically reviewed 35 relevant articles. Studies consistently implicate the basal ganglia and cerebellum as structural substrates of NSS and suggest that somatomotor and somatosensory regions as well as areas involved in visual processing and spatial orientation may underlie NSS in psychosis spectrum disorders. Additionally, dysfunction of frontoparietal and cerebellar networks has been implicated in the pathophysiology of NSS. The current literature outlines several structural and functional brain signatures that are relevant for NSS in schizophrenia spectrum disorder. The majority of studies assessed gray matter structure, but only a few studies leveraged other imaging methods such as diffusion weighted imaging, or molecular imaging. Due to this, it remains unclear if white matter integrity deficits or neurometabolic alterations contribute to NSS in the illness. While a substantial portion of the literature has been conducted in patients in the early illness stages, mitigating confounds of illness chronicity, few studies have been conducted in antipsychotic medication-naïve patients, which is a clear limitation. Furthermore, only little is known about the temporal evolution of NSS and associated brain signatures. Future studies addressing these pivotal gaps in our mechanistic understanding of NSS will be important.
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Affiliation(s)
- Genelle D Samson
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Adrienne C Lahti
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Nina V Kraguljac
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
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Reyes-Madrigal F, Guma E, León-Ortiz P, Gómez-Cruz G, Mora-Durán R, Graff-Guerrero A, Kegeles LS, Chakravarty MM, de la Fuente-Sandoval C. Striatal glutamate, subcortical structure and clinical response to first-line treatment in first-episode psychosis patients. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2022; 113:110473. [PMID: 34748864 PMCID: PMC8643337 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2021.110473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2021] [Revised: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Recent studies have observed that patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia as well as patients with schizophrenia who do not respond within a medication trial exhibit excess activity of the glutamate system. In this study we sought to replicate the within-trial glutamate abnormality and to investigate the potential for structural differences and treatment-induced changes to improve identification of medication responders and non-responders. METHODS We enrolled 48 medication-naïve patients in a 4-week trial of risperidone and classified them retrospectively into responders and non-responders using clinical criteria. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and T1-weighted structural MRI were acquired pre- and post-treatment to quantify striatal glutamate levels and several measures of subcortical brain structure. RESULTS Patients were classified as 29 responders and 19 non-responders. Striatal glutamate was higher in the non-responders than responders both pre- and post-treatment (F1,39 = 7.15, p = .01). Volumetric measures showed a significant group x time interaction (t = 5.163, <1%FDR), and group x time x glutamate interaction (t = 4.23, <15%FDR) were seen in several brain regions. Striatal volumes increased at trend level with treatment in both groups, and a positive association of striatal volumes with glutamate levels was seen in the non-responders. CONCLUSIONS Combining anatomic measures with glutamate levels offers the potential to enhance classification of responders and non-responders to antipsychotic medications as well as to provide mechanistic understanding of the interplay between neuroanatomical and neurochemical changes induced by these medications. Ethical statement The study was approved by the Ethics and Scientific committees of the Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía in Mexico City. All participants over 18 years fully understood and signed the informed consent; in case the patient was under 18 years, informed consent was obtained from both parents. Participants did not receive a stipend.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Reyes-Madrigal
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychiatry, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Elisa Guma
- Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Computational Brain Anatomy (CoBrA) Lab, Cerebral Imaging Centre, Douglas Research Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Pablo León-Ortiz
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychiatry, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Gladys Gómez-Cruz
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychiatry, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Ricardo Mora-Durán
- Emergency Department, Hospital Fray Bernardino Álvarez, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Ariel Graff-Guerrero
- Multimodal Neuroimaging Schizophrenia Group, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Lawrence S Kegeles
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, USA
| | - M Mallar Chakravarty
- Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Computational Brain Anatomy (CoBrA) Lab, Cerebral Imaging Centre, Douglas Research Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; Department of Biological and Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Camilo de la Fuente-Sandoval
- Laboratory of Experimental Psychiatry, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Mexico City, Mexico; Neuropsychiatry Department, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, Mexico City, Mexico.
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Demchenko I, Tassone VK, Kennedy SH, Dunlop K, Bhat V. Intrinsic Connectivity Networks of Glutamate-Mediated Antidepressant Response: A Neuroimaging Review. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:864902. [PMID: 35722550 PMCID: PMC9199367 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.864902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Conventional monoamine-based pharmacotherapy, considered the first-line treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), has several challenges, including high rates of non-response. To address these challenges, preclinical and clinical studies have sought to characterize antidepressant response through monoamine-independent mechanisms. One striking example is glutamate, the brain's foremost excitatory neurotransmitter: since the 1990s, studies have consistently reported altered levels of glutamate in MDD, as well as antidepressant effects following molecular targeting of glutamatergic receptors. Therapeutically, this has led to advances in the discovery, testing, and clinical application of a wide array of glutamatergic agents, particularly ketamine. Notably, ketamine has been demonstrated to rapidly improve mood symptoms, unlike monoamine-based interventions, and the neurobiological basis behind this rapid antidepressant response is under active investigation. Advances in brain imaging techniques, including functional magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and positron emission tomography, enable the identification of the brain network-based characteristics distinguishing rapid glutamatergic modulation from the effect of slow-acting conventional monoamine-based pharmacology. Here, we review brain imaging studies that examine brain connectivity features associated with rapid antidepressant response in MDD patients treated with glutamatergic pharmacotherapies in contrast with patients treated with slow-acting monoamine-based treatments. Trends in recent brain imaging literature suggest that the activity of brain regions is organized into coherent functionally distinct networks, termed intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs). We provide an overview of major ICNs implicated in depression and explore how treatment response following glutamatergic modulation alters functional connectivity of limbic, cognitive, and executive nodes within ICNs, with well-characterized anti-anhedonic effects and the enhancement of "top-down" executive control. Alterations within and between the core ICNs could potentially exert downstream effects on the nodes within other brain networks of relevance to MDD that are structurally and functionally interconnected through glutamatergic synapses. Understanding similarities and differences in brain ICNs features underlying treatment response will positively impact the trajectory and outcomes for adults suffering from MDD and will facilitate the development of biomarkers to enable glutamate-based precision therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilya Demchenko
- Interventional Psychiatry Program, Mental Health and Addictions Service, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Center for Depression and Suicide Studies, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Vanessa K Tassone
- Interventional Psychiatry Program, Mental Health and Addictions Service, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Sidney H Kennedy
- Interventional Psychiatry Program, Mental Health and Addictions Service, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Center for Depression and Suicide Studies, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Keenan Research Center for Biomedical Science, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Katharine Dunlop
- Interventional Psychiatry Program, Mental Health and Addictions Service, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Center for Depression and Suicide Studies, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Keenan Research Center for Biomedical Science, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Venkat Bhat
- Interventional Psychiatry Program, Mental Health and Addictions Service, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Center for Depression and Suicide Studies, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Keenan Research Center for Biomedical Science, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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8
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Maximo JO, Briend F, Armstrong WP, Kraguljac NV, Lahti AC. Salience network glutamate and brain connectivity in medication-naïve first episode patients - A multimodal magnetic resonance spectroscopy and resting state functional connectivity MRI study. Neuroimage Clin 2021; 32:102845. [PMID: 34662778 PMCID: PMC8526757 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2021] [Revised: 09/08/2021] [Accepted: 09/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Salience network (SN) connectivity is altered in schizophrenia, but the pathophysiological origin remains poorly understood. The goal of this multimodal neuroimaging study was to investigate the role of glutamatergic metabolism as putative mechanism underlying SN dysconnectivity in first episode psychosis (FEP) subjects. METHODS We measured glutamate + glutamine (Glx) in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) from 70 antipsychotic-naïve FEP subjects and 52 healthy controls (HC). The dACC was then used as seed to define positive and negative resting state functional connectivity (FC) of the SN. We used multiple regression analyses to test main effects and group interactions of Glx and FC associations. RESULTS dACC Glx levels did not differ between groups. Positive FC was significantly reduced in FEP compared to HC, and no group differences were found in negative FC. Group interactions of Glx-FC associations were found within the SN for positive FC, and in parietal cortices for negative FC. In HC, higher Glx levels predicted greater positive FC in the dACC and insula, and greater negative FC of the lateral parietal cortex. These relationships were weaker or absent in FEP. CONCLUSIONS Here, we found that positive FC in the SN is already altered in medication-naïve FEP, underscoring the importance of considering both correlations and anticorrelations for characterization of pathology. Our data demonstrate that Glx and functional connectivity work differently in FEP than in HC, pointing to a possible mechanism underlying dysconnectivity in psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jose O Maximo
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Frederic Briend
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; UMR1253, iBrain, Université de Tours, Inserm, Tours, France
| | - William P Armstrong
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Nina V Kraguljac
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Adrienne C Lahti
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
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