A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study on the Gray Matter,White Matter and Intrinsic Networks in Schizophrenic Patients

Objective:Using functionality magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI),we examined the functional connectivity difference of intrinsic networks between schizophrenic patients and healthy controls,to investigate the disease-specific biological markers,and to provide new clues and evidences for the understanding of the mechanism and diagnosis of schizophrenia.Methods:Functional images of schizophrenic patients(n=25),their healthy siblings(n=25),and healthy controls(n=25) were acquired by resting state functional MRI.The intrinsic networks(including the TPN and TNN) were constructed for each group and the overlapped intrinsic networks were obtained.Results:Significant connectivity difference of the overlapped intrinsic networks was found between schizophrenic patients,healthy siblings and healthy controls.These were the connectivities between the left DLPFC and right inferior frontal gyrus(IFG),the PCC/PCu and left inferior temporal gyrus(ITG),and the left ITG and right ITG.Post hoc tests(LSD) revealed that in the TNN,patients and siblings shared higher connectivity between the bilateral ITG,while patients alone showed higher connectivity between the PCC/PCu and left ITG.In the TPN,only the patients showed higher connectivity between the left DLPFC and IFG.No significant connectivity difference was found between any two regions from different networks.Conclusion:Schizophrenic patients and heathly siblings share raise of functional connectivity in the intrinsic networks.The pathophysiology of schizophrenia involves raised connectivity of the TPN and TNN.Raised connectivity of the TNN may be associated with the genetic liability for schizophrenia.