Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 417, Issue 3, 7 May 2007, Pages 297-302
Neuroscience Letters

Functional dysconnectivity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in first-episode schizophrenia using resting-state fMRI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2007.02.081Get rights and content

Abstract

The known regional abnormality of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and its role in various neural circuits in schizophrenia has given prominence to its importance in studies on the dysconnection associated with schizophrenia. Abnormal functional connectivities of the DLPFC have been found during various goal-directed tasks; however, the occurrence of the abnormality during rest in patients with schizophrenia has rarely been reported. In the present study, we selected bilateral Brodmann's area 46 as region of interest and analyzed the differences in the DLPFC functional connectivity pattern between 17 patients with first-episode schizophrenia (FES) and 17 matched controls using resting-state fMRI. We found that the bilateral DLPFC showed reduced functional connectivities to the parietal lobe, posterior cingulate cortex, thalamus and striatum in FES patients. We also found enhanced functional connectivity between the left DLPFC and the left mid-posterior temporal lobe and the paralimbic regions in FES patients. Our results suggest that functional dysconnectivity associated with the DLPFC exists in schizophrenia during rest. This may be partially related to disturbance in the intrinsic brain activity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant Nos. 30425004, 30530290 and 60121302, and the National Key Basic Research and Development Program (973), Grant No. 2003CB716100.

The authors are grateful to the anonymous referees for their constructive comments. The authors also thank Yihui Hao, Kun Wang, Ming Song and Professor Xiaoping P. Hu for their helpful discussions and Drs. Rhoda E. and Edmund F. Perozzi for editing and English language assistance.

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