A Comparative Study On The Functional Connectivity Of Amygdala And Hippocampal Neural Circuits In Patients With First-episode Schizophrenia And Their High-risk Population

Objective: Cortical-limbic system neural circuit abnormalities are closely related to the onset of schizophrenia(SZ).There may be different abnormal patterns of this neural circuit related to the abnormal emotional regulation and functional impairment,respectively.The amygdala,hippocampus,cingulate,and prefrontal lobe are important components of the loop.In this study,a resting-state functional connectivity method was used to compare resting state functional connectivity between amygdala/hippocampus and cingulate/prefrontal regions among patients with first-episode schizophrenia(FE-SZ),schizophrenia at high risk(HR-SZ),and healthy controls(HC).With a view to discovering the abnormal pattern of the cortical-limbic system of SZ and the functional connectivity characteristics of HR-SZ,to better explore the pathophysiology mechanism of SZ.Method: 3.0T magnetic resonance scans of head were performed on 75 FE-SZ patients,59 HR-SZ,and 64 healthy controls.One-way analysis of variance and chi-square test were used to count demographic data of three groups of subjects.The bilateral amygdala and bilateral hippocampus were taken as regions of interest,and the frontal lobe and cingulate were used as statistical templates.Functional image data processing and analysis were performed by DPABI software package.The analysis of covariance and post hoc analysis were performed on the functional connectivity of the three groups.Finally,the correlation analysis between the significant brain functional connection value and the scale score was performed.Result: 1.The gender and age of the three groups of subjects did not match,and the two were used as statistical covariates.2.The results of analysis of covariance of amygdala functional connections showed that there were significant differences in functional connections between the right medial and lateral cingulate brain gyrus regions,GRF(Gaussian random field)corrected P <0.001;post hoc comparisons showed that patients with SZ The functional connection of the amygdala to this region was significantly lower than that of HR and healthy controls.Bonferroni adjusted P <0.001,and there was no significant difference between HR and healthy controls.3.The results of covariance nalysis of hippocampal functional connections showed that there was a significant difference in functional connectivity between the three groups of subjects in the medial superior frontal gyrus area,with a GRF correction of P <0.001;a post hoc comparison showed that hippocampus in SZ patients and this area The functional connectivity was significantly lower than that of HR and healthy controls,with Bonferroni corrected P <0.001,and there was no significant difference between HR and healthy controls.4.The results of correlation analysis showed that hippocampal-medial frontal gyrus functional connections in patients with SZ were positively correlated with core depression factor scores of the Hamilton Depression Scale(P = 0.006,R = 0.357).Conclusion: There are different patterns of functional connectivity impairment in the amygdala and hippocampal neural circuits in the schizophrenic cortical-limbic system.Changes in the functional connections between the amygdala and the dorsal cingulate,and the hippocampus and the medial prefrontal lobe may be related to the emotional deficits shown by patients with SZ,and may become state-related imaging biomarker of the disease.In the high-risk population without affected,there may be structural abnormalities in this circuit of the cortical-limbic system,but there is no abnormality in the functional connection,and daily functions are not affected.