Systems Neuroscience of Motor Function on the Continuum from Health to Psychosis

Psychotic disorders are highly complex with regard to their symptomatic characteristics and aetiology. About 1-2% of the population are affected by psychosis during their lifetime. Impairments in motor function that occur in psychosis have been associated with aberrant neural activity and structure. It is still unclear whether differences in motor ability in healthy individuals are similarly related to distinct brain activation patterns in motor-related brain areas, suggesting that impairments in psychosis patients are extreme values on a trait continuum. In the present study, we examine the neural underpinnings of motor function on the spectrum from health to psychosis. We investigate the neural correlates by conducting electroencephalography (EEG) as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in 120 subjects from four different groups: psychosis patients, subjects with a clinical high-risk for psychosis, first-degree relatives of psychosis patients and healthy controls. During MRI and EEG measurement, subjects perform an ankle movement task as well as a biological motion recognition task, using the point light walker paradigm. In addition, physiological markers such as heart rate variability and force variability are recorded. We hypothesize functional and structural neural abnormalities in the motor areas in relation to the strength of the behavioural disturbances. Our results will provide new insights into the neural basis, as well as the aetiology of motor function in psychosis.