Lower prefrontal activation during emotion regulation in subjects at ultrahigh risk for psychosis: An fMRI-study

Individuals at high risk of developing psychosis may have problems regulating emotions, new research suggests. Noting that patients with schizophrenia are known to exhibit abnormal brain activation during emotion regulation, Jorien van der Velde at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, and co-workers set their sights on patients who are at ultra-high risk (UHR) of psychosis—based on both genetic and psychological criteria—but have not yet developed symptoms. Using functional MRI, they compared brain activity during a picture assessment task in 15 UHR patients and 16 healthy controls. While viewing and reappraising negative and neutral images, UHR patients showed lower activation of the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain associated with moderating emotions. The study offers new data for understanding how psychoses develop and how they might be predicted.