Aberrant heartbeat-evoked potential in schizophrenia

Akihiro Koreki; Kamiyu Ogyu; Takahiro Miyazaki; Kazumasa Takenouchi; Karin Matsushita; Shiori Honda; Teruki Koizumi; Mitsumoto Onaya; Hiroyuki Uchida; Masaru Mimura; Shinichiro Nakajima; Yoshihiro Noda

doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2024.110969

Aberrant heartbeat-evoked potential in schizophrenia

Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2024 Jun 8:132:110969. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2024.110969. Epub 2024 Feb 16.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, National Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical Center, Chiba, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, National Hospital Organization Chiba-Higashi Hospital, Chiba, Japan.
² Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, National Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical Center, Chiba, Japan.
³ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, National Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical Center, Chiba, Japan.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, National Hospital Organization Shimofusa Psychiatric Medical Center, Chiba, Japan.
⁶ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: shinichiro.l.nakajima@gmail.com.
⁷ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: yoshi-tms@keio.jp.

PMID: 38369098
DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2024.110969

Abstract

Self-disturbance is considered a core feature underlying the psychopathology of schizophrenia. Interoception has an important role in the development of a sense of self, leading to increased interest in the potential contribution of abnormal interoception to self-disturbances in schizophrenia. Several neuropsychological studies have demonstrated aberrant interoception in schizophrenia. However, cortical interoceptive processing has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Thus, we sought to examine resting-state heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) in this population. We hypothesized that patients with schizophrenia would exhibit significant alterations in HEP compared to healthy controls (HCs). In this cross-sectional electroencephalogram (EEG) study, we compared the HEPs between age- and sex-matched groups of patients with schizophrenia and HCs. A 10-min resting-state EEG with eyes closed and an electrocardiogram (ECG) were recorded and analyzed for the time window of 450 ms to 500 ms after an ECG R peak. A positive HEP shift was observed in the frontal-central regions (F [1, 82] = 7.402, p = 0.008, partial η² = 0.009) in patients with schizophrenia (n = 61) when compared with HCs (n = 31) after adjusting for confounders such as age, sex, and heart rate. A cluster-based correction analysis revealed that the HEP around the right frontal area (Fp2, F4, and F8) showed the most significant group differences (F [1, 82] = 10.079, p = 0.002, partial η² = 0.021), with a peak at the F4 electrode site (F [1, 82] = 12.646, p < 0.001, partial η² = 0.069). We observed no correlation between HEP and symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. A positive shift of HEP during the late component could reflect a trait abnormality in schizophrenia. Further research is required to determine the association between the altered cortical interoceptive processing indexed with HEP and self-disturbances in schizophrenia.

Keywords: Electroencephalogram; HEP; Interoception; Schizophrenia; Self-disturbances.

MeSH terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Electroencephalography
Evoked Potentials / physiology
Heart Rate / physiology
Humans
Schizophrenia*