Alterations in functional network centrality in first-episode drug-naïve adolescent-onset schizophrenia

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a disorder resulting from aberrant brain networks and circuits. In the current study, we aimed to investigate specific network alterations in adolescent-onset schizophrenia (AOS) and to help identify the neurophysiological mechanisms of this adolescent disorder. We recruited forty-one subjects, including 20 AOS patients and 21 matched healthy controls (HCs), and we acquired brain images to examine the specific changes in functional network patterns using degree centrality (DC), which quantifies the strength of the local functional connectivity hubs. Whole-brain correlation analysis was applied to assess the relationships between clinical characteristics and DC measurements. The AOS group exhibited increased DC in the right inferior frontal lobe, right fusiform gyrus and right thalamus (p < 0.05, AlphaSim correction). Whole-brain correlation analysis found that the DC value in the right parahippocampus was positively correlated with PANSS-positive symptom scores (r = 0.80); DC in the right superior parietal lobe (SPL) was positively correlated with PANSS-negative symptom scores (r = 0.79); DC in the left precuneus was positively correlated with self-certainty (SC) scores (r = 0.70); and DC in the left medial frontal gyrus (MFG) was negatively correlated with self-reflectiveness (SR) scores (r = 0.69). We conclude that frontoparietal network and cortico-thalamo-cortical pathway disruptions could play key roles in the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying AOS. In AOS patients, the right parahippocampus and SPL are important structures associated with positive and negative symptoms, respectively, and the left precuneus and MFG contribute to deficits in cognitive insights.

Keywords: Adolescent-onset schizophrenia; Degree centrality; Functional connectivity.