Correlation Between Resting Theta Power and Cognitive Performance in Patients With Schizophrenia

Yanxiang Cao; Chuanliang Han; Xing Peng; Ziyao Su; Gan Liu; Yixi Xie; Yiting Zhang; Jun Liu; Pei Zhang; Wen Dong; Michel Gao; Sha Sha; Xixi Zhao

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2022.853994

Correlation Between Resting Theta Power and Cognitive Performance in Patients With Schizophrenia

Front Hum Neurosci. 2022 Apr 22:16:853994. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.853994. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yanxiang Cao^{1

2}, Chuanliang Han³, Xing Peng⁴, Ziyao Su⁵, Gan Liu⁵, Yixi Xie⁵, Yiting Zhang⁵, Jun Liu^{1

2}, Pei Zhang^{1

2}, Wen Dong^{1

2}, Michel Gao⁶, Sha Sha^{1

2}, Xixi Zhao^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders and Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
² Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
³ Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Modulation and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Connectome and Behavior, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science, Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen, China.
⁴ School of Public Health, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, China.
⁵ Beijing Pinggu Hospital-Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
⁶ WM Therapeutics Ltd., Beijing, China.

Abstract

Objective: Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that is characterized by progressive cognitive impairment. Objective measures of cognitive function may provide reliable neurobiomarkers for patients with schizophrenia. The goal of the current work is to explore the correlation between resting theta power and cognitive performance in patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: Twenty-two patients with schizophrenia and 23 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls were included in this study. The MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was used for cognitive evaluation and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for evaluation of clinical symptoms. EEGs were acquired in the resting state with closed and opened eyes. Between the two groups, we compared the relative theta power and examined their relationship with cognitive performance.

Results: Compared to healthy controls, patients with schizophrenia showed significantly higher theta power, both with eyes closed and open (P < 0.05). When the eyes were open, negative correlations were found in patients with schizophrenia between theta power in the central and parietal regions with processing speed scores, and between the theta power of the Pz electrode and verbal learning and reasoning and problem-solving scores (r ≥ -0.446). In the control group, theta power over the Fz electrode was negatively correlated with processing speed (r = -0.435).

Conclusions: Our findings showed that theta activity increased in certain brain regions during resting state in schizophrenia. Negative associations between resting theta power (increased) over the parietal-occipital regions with MCCB domains scores (decreased) suggest that altered theta activity can be used as a neurobiological indicator to predict cognitive performance.

Keywords: EEG; MCCB; cognitive performance; schizophrenia; theta.