Brain activation/deactivation evaluation in patients with schizophrenia using functional MRI

Ustyuzhanin D., Beliaevskaia A., Morozova Ya., Zashezova M., Shariya M., Kropotov J., Konovalov R., Smulevich A., Smirnov V.,

Ternovoy S.

 

Purpose. To evaluate the brain activation/deactivation patterns using a dual task fMRI with cognitive load and memory exercise in patients with schizophrenia.

Materials and methods. The study involved 15 patients with schizophrenia (males, aged 30±5 years) in remission. All patients underwent standard and functional 3 T MRI with dual task: backwards counting by 7 from 100 as a cognitive load and instruction to keep in mind the exact word during the test as a memory exercise. The fMRI data was processed using the SPM8 – Statistical Parametric Mapping software (Welcome Trust Centre of Neuroimaging, London, UK) based on MATLAB.

Results. In patients with schizophrenia, a statistically significant zone of deactivation in the anterior component of the verbal working memory was detected, including Brodmann areas 9 and 10 (pFWEcorr < 0,001). A zone of deactivation of the left limbic lobe in the left posterior cingulate gyrus was revealed, Brodmann area 23 (pFWEcorr < 0,001). A significant activation zone in the posterior component of working memory in the left inferior parietal gyrus was found (pFWEcorr < 0,001).

Conclusions. The results of this study confirm the effectiveness of dual task paradigm with cognitive load and memory exercise for cortical activation evaluation in patients with schizophrenia. Deactivation zones in frontal cortex and in limbic lobe, activation zone in temporal cortex are important for understanding the pathogenesis of schizophrenia, and in the future can be used in other studies to assess the impact of different treatment methods.

1 - National Research Center of Cardiology. Moscow, Russia.

2 - I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University). Moscow, Russia.

3 - N.P. Bechtereva Institute of the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

4 - Research Center of Neurology. Moscow, Russia.

5 - Mental Health Research Center. Moscow, Russia.

 

Keywords: fMRI, schizophrenia, neuronal activation, short-term working memory, limbic system.

 

Corresponding author:  Ustyuzhanin D., e-mail: Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript

 

For citation: Ustyuzhanin D., Beliaevskaia A., Morozova Ya., Zashezova M., Shariya M.,

Kropotov J., Konovalov R., Smulevich A., Smirnov V., Ternovoy S. Brain activation/deactivation evaluation in patients with schizophrenia using functional MRI. REJR 2021; 11(2):83-89. DOI: 10.21569/2222-7415-2021-11-2-83-89.

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Received:       12.11.20 Accepted:     25.03.21