Evaluation of Event-Related Potentials in Somatic Diseases - Systematic Review.

Many somatic illnesses (e.g. hypertension, diabetes, pulmonary and cardiac diseases, hepatitis C, kidney and heart failure, HIV infection, Sjogren's disease) may impact central nervous system functions resulting in emotional, sensory, cognitive or even personality impairments. Event-related potential (ERP) methodology allows for monitoring neurocognitive processes and thus can provide a valuable window into these cognitive processes that are influenced, or brought about, by somatic disorders. The current review aims to present published studies on the relationships between somatic illness and brain function as assessed with ERP methodology, with the goal to discuss where this field of study is right now and suggest future directions.

Calculating individualized risk components using a mobile app-based risk calculator for clinical high risk of psychosis: findings from ShangHai At Risk for Psychosis (SHARP) program.

BACKGROUND: Only 30% or fewer of individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) convert to full psychosis within 2 years. Efforts are thus underway to refine risk identification strategies to increase their predictive power. Our objective was to develop and validate the predictive accuracy and individualized risk components of a mobile app-based psychosis risk calculator (RC) in a CHR sample from the SHARP (ShangHai At Risk for Psychosis) program. METHOD: In total, 400 CHR individuals were identified by the Chinese version of the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes. In the first phase of 300 CHR individuals, 196 subjects (65.3%) who completed neurocognitive assessments and had at least a 2-year follow-up assessment were included in the construction of an RC for psychosis. In the second phase of the SHARP sample of 100 subjects, 93 with data integrity were included to validate the performance of the SHARP-RC. RESULTS: The SHARP-RC showed good discrimination of subsequent transition to psychosis with an AUC of 0.78 (p < 0.001). The individualized risk generated by the SHARP-RC provided a solid estimation of conversion in the independent validation sample, with an AUC of 0.80 (p = 0.003). A risk estimate of 20% or higher had excellent sensitivity (84%) and moderate specificity (63%) for the prediction of psychosis. The relative contribution of individual risk components can be simultaneously generated. The mobile app-based SHARP-RC was developed as a convenient tool for individualized psychosis risk appraisal. CONCLUSIONS: The SHARP-RC provides a practical tool not only for assessing the probability that an individual at CHR will develop full psychosis, but also personal risk components that might be targeted in early intervention.

Individualized risk components guiding antipsychotic delivery in patients with a clinical high risk of psychosis: application of a risk calculator.

BACKGROUND: Antipsychotics are widely used for treating patients with psychosis, and target threshold psychotic symptoms. Individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis are characterized by subthreshold psychotic symptoms. It is currently unclear who might benefit from antipsychotic treatment. Our objective was to apply a risk calculator (RC) to identify people that would benefit from antipsychotics. METHODS: Drawing on 400 CHR individuals recruited between 2011 and 2016, 208 individuals who received antipsychotic treatment were included. Clinical and cognitive variables were entered into an individualized RC for psychosis; personal risk was estimated and 4 risk components (negative symptoms-RC-NS, general function-RC-GF, cognitive performance-RC-CP, and positive symptoms-RC-PS) were constructed. The sample was further stratified according to the risk level. Higher risk was defined based on the estimated risk score (20% or higher). RESULTS: In total, 208 CHR individuals received daily antipsychotic treatment of an olanzapine-equivalent dose of 8.7 mg with a mean administration duration of 58.4 weeks. Of these, 39 (18.8%) developed psychosis within 2 years. A new index of factors ratio (FR), which was derived from the ratio of RC-PS plus RC-GF to RC-NS plus RC-CP, was generated. In the higher-risk group, as FR increased, the conversion rate decreased. A small group (15%) of CHR individuals at higher-risk and an FR >1 benefitted from the antipsychotic treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Through applying a personal risk assessment, the administration of antipsychotics should be limited to CHR individuals with predominantly positive symptoms and related function decline. A strict antipsychotic prescription strategy should be introduced to reduce inappropriate use.

Functional connectome organization predicts conversion to psychosis in clinical high-risk youth from the SHARP program.

The emergence of prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia and their evolution into overt psychosis may stem from an aberrant functional reorganization of the brain during adolescence. To examine whether abnormalities in connectome organization precede psychosis onset, we performed a functional connectome analysis in a large cohort of medication-naive youth at risk for psychosis from the Shanghai At Risk for Psychosis (SHARP) study. The SHARP program is a longitudinal study of adolescents and young adults at Clinical High Risk (CHR) for psychosis, conducted at the Shanghai Mental Health Center in collaboration with neuroimaging laboratories at Harvard and MIT. Our study involved a total of 251 subjects, including 158 CHRs and 93 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls. During 1-year follow-up, 23 CHRs developed psychosis. CHRs who would go on to develop psychosis were found to show abnormal modular connectome organization at baseline, while CHR non-converters did not. In all CHRs, abnormal modular connectome organization at baseline was associated with a threefold conversion rate. A region-specific analysis showed that brain regions implicated in early-course schizophrenia, including superior temporal gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex, were most abnormal in terms of modular assignment. Our results show that functional changes in brain network organization precede the onset of psychosis and may drive psychosis development in at-risk youth.

Clinical subtypes that predict conversion to psychosis: A canonical correlation analysis study from the ShangHai At Risk for Psychosis program.

OBJECTIVE: Since only 30% or fewer of individuals at clinical high risk convert to psychosis within 2 years, efforts are underway to refine risk identification strategies to increase their predictive power. The clinical high risk is a heterogeneous syndrome presenting with highly variable clinical symptoms and cognitive dysfunctions. This study investigated whether subtypes defined by baseline clinical and cognitive features improve the prediction of psychosis. METHOD: Four hundred clinical high-risk subjects from the ongoing ShangHai At Risk for Psychosis program were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Canonical correlation analysis was applied to 289 clinical high-risk subjects with completed Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes and cognitive battery tests at baseline, and at least 1-year follow-up. Canonical variates were generated by canonical correlation analysis and then used for hierarchical cluster analysis to produce subtypes. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were constructed from the three subtypes to test their utility further in predicting psychosis. RESULTS: Canonical correlation analysis determined two linear combinations: (1) negative symptom and functional deterioration-related cognitive features, and (2) Positive symptoms and emotional disorganization-related cognitive features. Cluster analysis revealed three subtypes defined by distinct and relatively homogeneous patterns along two dimensions, comprising 14.2% (subtype 1, n = 41), 37.4% (subtype 2, n = 108) and 48.4% (subtype 3, n = 140) of the sample, and each with distinctive features of clinical and cognitive performance. Those with subtype 1, which is characterized by extensive negative symptoms and cognitive deficits, appear to have the highest risk for psychosis. The conversion risk for subtypes 1-3 are 39.0%, 11.1% and 18.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our results define important subtypes within clinical high-risk syndromes that highlight clinical symptoms and cognitive features that transcend current diagnostic boundaries. The three different subtypes reflect significant differences in clinical and cognitive characteristics as well as in the risk of conversion to psychosis.

Longitudinal evaluation of visual P300 amplitude in clinical high-risk subjects: An event-related potential study.

AIM: We previously reported abnormal P300 and N200 in a visual oddball task, and progressive P300 amplitude reduction at 1-year follow-up in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. P300 reduction as well as intact P1/N1 were also observed in clinical high-risk subjects (CHR), but whether or not these components change over time is unknown. This study evaluates, longitudinally, the visual P300, as well as P1, N1, and N200, in CHR. METHODS: Visual event-related potentials (ERP) were recorded twice, once at baseline and once at 1-year follow-up in CHR (n = 19) and healthy comparison subjects (HC; n = 28). Participants silently counted infrequent target stimuli ('x') among standard stimuli ('y') presented on the screen while the 64-channel electroencephalogram was recorded. RESULTS: No CHR converted to psychosis from baseline to 1-year follow-up in this study. Visual P300 amplitude was reduced and the latency was delayed significantly in CHR at both time points compared with HC. Furthermore, CHR subjects who had more positive symptoms showed more amplitude reduction at both time points. P1, N1, and N200 did not differ between groups. CONCLUSION: Visual P300 amplitude was found to be reduced in CHR individuals compared with HC. We note that this finding is in subjects who did not convert to psychosis at 1-year follow-up. The association between visual P300 amplitude and symptoms suggests that for CHR who often experience clinical symptoms and seek medical care, visual P300 may be an important index that reflects the pathophysiological impairment underlying such clinical states.

Targeting the superior temporal gyrus with real-time fMRI neurofeedback: A pilot study of the indirect effects on self-referential processes in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) and auditory hallucinations (AHs) display a distorted sense of self and self-other boundaries. Alterations of activity in midline cortical structures such as the prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during self-reference as well as in the superior temporal gyrus (STG) have been proposed as neuromarkers of SZ and AHs. METHODS: In this randomized, participant-blinded, sham-controlled trial, 22 adults (18 males) with SZ spectrum disorders (SZ or schizoaffective disorder) and frequent medication-resistant AHs received one session of real-time fMRI neurofeedback (NFB) either from the STG (n = 11; experimental group) or motor cortex (n = 11; control group). During NFB, participants were instructed to upregulate their STG activity by attending to pre-recorded sentences spoken in their own voice and downregulate it by ignoring unfamiliar voices. Before and after NFB, participants completed a self-reference task where they evaluated if trait adjectives referred to themselves (self condition), Abraham Lincoln (other condition), or whether adjectives had a positive valence (semantic condition). FMRI activation analyses of self-reference task data tested between-group changes after NFB (self>semantic, post>pre-NFB, experimental>control). Analyses were pre-masked within a self-reference network. RESULTS: Activation analyses revealed significantly (p < 0.001) greater activation increase in the experimental, compared to the control group, after NFB within anterior regions of the self-reference network (mPFC, ACC, superior frontal cortex). CONCLUSIONS: STG-NFB was associated with activity increase in the mPFC, ACC, and superior frontal cortex during self-reference. Modulating the STG is associated with activation changes in other, not-directly targeted, regions subserving higher-level cognitive processes associated with self-referential processes and AHs psychopathology in SZ. CLINICALTRIALS: GOV: Rt-fMRI Neurofeedback and AH in Schizophrenia; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03504579.

From communication dysfunction to treatment options in serious mental illness.

The Commentary covers research focused on language dysfunction in schizophrenia, and more broadly in communication dysfunction in this disorder, which I have examined with a variety of both behavioral and imaging methodologies. It briefly outlines how further progress can be achieved in pursuing the goal of a comprehensive understanding of its underlying causes. Possible therapeutic approaches are also briefly discussed.

Mismatch Negativity in Response to Auditory Deviance and Risk for Future Psychosis in Youth at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis.

Importance: Although clinical criteria for identifying youth at risk for psychosis have been validated, they are not sufficiently accurate for predicting outcomes to inform major treatment decisions. The identification of biomarkers may improve outcome prediction among individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P). Objective: To examine whether mismatch negativity (MMN) event-related potential amplitude, which is deficient in schizophrenia, is reduced in young people with the CHR-P syndrome and associated with outcomes, accounting for effects of antipsychotic medication use. Design, Setting, and Participants: MMN data were collected as part of the multisite case-control North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS-2) from 8 university-based outpatient research programs. Baseline MMN data were collected from June 2009 through April 2013. Clinical outcomes were assessed throughout 24 months. Participants were individuals with the CHR-P syndrome and healthy controls with MMN data. Participants with the CHR-P syndrome who developed psychosis (ie, converters) were compared with those who did not develop psychosis (ie, nonconverters) who were followed up for 24 months. Analysis took place between December 2019 and December 2021. Main Outcomes and Measures: Electroencephalography was recorded during a passive auditory oddball paradigm. MMN elicited by duration-, pitch-, and duration + pitch double-deviant tones was measured. Results: The CHR-P group (n = 580; mean [SD] age, 19.24 [4.39] years) included 247 female individuals (42.6%) and the healthy control group (n = 241; mean age, 20.33 [4.74] years) included 114 female individuals (47.3%). In the CHR-P group, 450 (77.6%) were not taking antipsychotic medication at baseline. Baseline MMN amplitudes, irrespective of deviant type, were deficient in future CHR-P converters to psychosis (n = 77, unmedicated n = 54) compared with nonconverters (n = 238, unmedicated n = 190) in both the full sample (d = 0.27) and the unmedicated subsample (d = 0.33). In the full sample, baseline medication status interacted with group and deviant type indicating that double-deviant MMN, compared with single deviants, was reduced in unmedicated converters compared with nonconverters (d = 0.43). Further, within the unmedicated subsample, deficits in double-deviant MMN were most strongly associated with earlier conversion to psychosis (hazard ratio, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.03-1.90]; P = .03], which persisted over and above positive symptom severity. Conclusions and Relevance: This study found that MMN amplitude deficits were sensitive to future psychosis conversion among individuals at risk of CHR-P, particularly those not taking antipsychotic medication at baseline, although associations were modest. While MMN shows limited promise as a biomarker of psychosis onset on its own, it may contribute novel risk information to multivariate prediction algorithms and serve as a translational neurophysiological target for novel treatment development in a subgroup of at-risk individuals.

Auditory N100 amplitude deficits predict conversion to psychosis in the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS-2) cohort.

BACKGROUND: The auditory N100 is an event related potential (ERP) that is reduced in schizophrenia, but its status in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR) and its ability to predict conversion to psychosis remains unclear. We examined whether N100 amplitudes are reduced in CHR subjects relative to healthy controls (HC), and this reduction predicts conversion to psychosis in CHR. METHODS: Subjects included CHR individuals (n = 552) and demographically similar HC subjects (n = 236) from the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study. Follow-up assessments identified CHR individuals who converted to psychosis (CHRC; n = 73) and those who did not (CHR-NC; n = 225) over 24 months. Electroencephalography data were collected during an auditory oddball task containing Standard, Novel, and Target stimuli. N100 peak amplitudes following each stimulus were measured at electrodes Cz and Fz. RESULTS: The CHR subjects had smaller N100 absolute amplitudes than HC subjects at Fz (F(1,786) = 4.00, p 0.046). A model comparing three groups (CHRC, CHR-NC, HC) was significant for Group at the Cz electrode (F(2,531) = 3.58, p = 0.029). Both Standard (p = 0.019) and Novel (p = 0.017) stimuli showed N100 absolute amplitude reductions in CHR-C relative to HC. A smaller N100 amplitude at Cz predicted conversion to psychosis in the CHR cohort (Standard: p = 0.009; Novel: p = 0.001) and predicted shorter time to conversion (Standard: p = 0.013; Novel: p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: N100 amplitudes are reduced in CHR individuals which precedes the onset of psychosis. N100 deficits in CHR individuals predict a greater likelihood of conversion to psychosis. Our results highlight N100's utility as a biomarker of psychosis risk.

Abnormal Function in Dentate Nuclei Precedes the Onset of Psychosis: A Resting-State fMRI Study in High-Risk Individuals.

OBJECTIVE: The cerebellum serves a wide range of functions and is suggested to be composed of discrete regions dedicated to unique functions. We recently developed a new parcellation of the dentate nuclei (DN), the major output nuclei of the cerebellum, which optimally divides the structure into 3 functional territories that contribute uniquely to default-mode, motor-salience, and visual processing networks as indexed by resting-state functional connectivity (RsFc). Here we test for the first time whether RsFc differences in the DN, precede the onset of psychosis in individuals at risk of developing schizophrenia. METHODS: We used the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) dataset from the Shanghai At Risk for Psychosis study that included subjects at high risk to develop schizophrenia (N = 144), with longitudinal follow-up to determine which subjects developed a psychotic episode within 1 year of their functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan (converters N = 23). Analysis used the 3 functional parcels (default-mode, salience-motor, and visual territory) from the DN as seed regions of interest for whole-brain RsFc analysis. RESULTS: RsFc analysis revealed abnormalities at baseline in high-risk individuals who developed psychosis, compared to high-risk individuals who did not develop psychosis. The nature of the observed abnormalities was found to be anatomically specific such that abnormal RsFc was localized predominantly in cerebral cortical networks that matched the 3 functional territories of the DN that were evaluated. CONCLUSIONS: We show for the first time that abnormal RsFc of the DN may precede the onset of psychosis. This new evidence highlights the role of the cerebellum as a potential target for psychosis prediction and prevention.

Baseline Cortical Thickness Reductions in Clinical High Risk for Psychosis: Brain Regions Associated with Conversion to Psychosis Versus Non-Conversion as Assessed at One-Year Follow-Up in the Shanghai-At-Risk-for-Psychosis (SHARP) Study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess cortical thickness (CT) and surface area (SA) of frontal, temporal, and parietal brain regions in a large clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR) sample, and to identify cortical brain abnormalities in CHR who convert to psychosis and in the whole CHR sample, compared with the healthy controls (HC). METHODS: Magnetic resonance imaging, clinical, and cognitive data were acquired at baseline in 92 HC, 130 non-converters, and 22 converters (conversion assessed at 1-year follow-up). CT and SA at baseline were calculated for frontal, temporal, and parietal subregions. Correlations between regions showing group differences and clinical scores and age were also obtained. RESULTS: CT but not SA was significantly reduced in CHR compared with HC. Two patterns of findings emerged: (1) In converters, CT was significantly reduced relative to non-converters and controls in the banks of superior temporal sulcus, Heschl's gyrus, and pars triangularis and (2) CT in the inferior parietal and supramarginal gyrus, and at trend level in the pars opercularis, fusiform, and middle temporal gyri was significantly reduced in all high-risk individuals compared with HC. Additionally, reduced CT correlated significantly with older age in HC and in non-converters but not in converters. CONCLUSIONS: These results show for the first time that fronto-temporo-parietal abnormalities characterized all CHR, that is, both converters and non-converters, relative to HC, while CT abnormalities in converters relative to CHR-NC and HC were found in core auditory and language processing regions.

Color Stroop and negative priming in schizophrenia: an fMRI study.

Disturbances in selective attention represent a core characteristic of schizophrenia, whose neural underpinnings have yet to be fully elucidated. Consequently, we recorded brain activation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while 15 patients with schizophrenia and 15 age-matched controls performed a well-established measure of selective attention-the color Stroop negative priming task. We focused on two aspects of performance: overriding pre-potent responses (Stroop effect) and inhibition of prior negatively primed trials (negative priming effect). Behaviorally, controls demonstrated both significant Stroop and negative priming effects, while schizophrenic subjects only showed the Stroop effect. For the Stroop effect, fMRI indicated significantly greater activation in frontal regions-medial frontal gyrus/anterior cingulate gyrus and middle frontal gyrus for controls-but greater activation in medial parietal regions (posterior cingulate gyrus/precuneus) for patients. Negative priming elicited significant activation in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for both groups, but also in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for patients. These different patterns of fMRI activation may reflect faulty interaction in schizophrenia within networks of brain regions that are vital to selective attention.

Neural characteristics of cognitive reappraisal success and failure: An ERP study.

INTRODUCTION: Cognitive reappraisal, an important strategy of emotion regulation, can change emotional experience and attention to emotional information. However, not all individuals can deploy reappraisal strategies successfully. In the current study, we investigated event-related potential (ERP) characteristics of reappraisal success and of reappraisal failure. METHODS: Twenty-six participants were divided into the success group or the failure group based on self-report ratings of how successful they were in reducing their response to negative images using cognitive reappraisal strategy. All participants viewed 30 neutral images and 30 negative images which they were asked to just watch, and 30 negative stimuli that they were asked to reappraise, while electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. RESULTS: The success group reported a significant reduction in the unpleasantness of negative images than the failure group in the negative-reappraisal condition. The ERP data indicated that two time windows differentiated between the success and failure groups. In 200-300 ms, P200 was significantly more positive to the negative-watch condition relative to both negative-reappraisal and neutral conditions in the failure group, while no difference was observed in the success group. In 300-5,000 ms, cognitive reappraisal led to increased late positive potential (LPP) relative to negative-watch in the early and middle latency windows (300-3,100 ms) in both groups; in the late latency window (3,100-5,000 ms), the reappraisal success group showed the LPP amplitude to the negative-reappraisal stimuli to be more positive than to the negative-watch stimuli, while no difference was found in the reappraisal failure group. CONCLUSION: Our study provided direct evidence that different neurophysiological features were associated with reappraisal success and failure while engaging in the reappraisal of negative stimuli. This result will contribute to better understanding of the neural mechanism of emotion regulation in emotional disorders (i.e., depression and anxiety).

Altered P3a Modulations to Emotional Faces in Male Patients With Chronic Schizophrenia.

Existing evidence suggests that patients with schizophrenia may have a deficit in processing facial expressions. However, the neural basis of this processing deficit remains unclear. A total of 20 men diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia and 13 age- and sex-matched controls participated in the study. We investigated visual N170 and P3a components evoked in response to fearful, happy, and sad faces during an emotion discrimination task. Compared with control subjects, patients showed significantly smaller N170 amplitudes bilaterally (P = .04). We found no significant main effect of emotion of the presented faces (fearful, happy, or sad) on N170 amplitude. Patients showed significantly smaller P3a amplitudes in response to fearful (P = .01) and happy (P = .02) faces, but no significant between-group differences were observed for sad faces (P = .22). Moreover, we found no significant P3a modulation effect in response to emotional faces in patients with schizophrenia. Our results suggest that altered P3a modulations to emotional faces may be associated with emotion recognition deficits in patients with schizophrenia.

Abnormal Frequency Mismatch Negativity in Early Psychosis Outpatient Subjects.

Background. Abnormalities of mismatch negativity (MMN), an event-related potential, indexing preattentive mechanisms, are consistently reported in schizophrenia (SZ). MMN abnormalities elicited to different deviant types have been recently shown to distinguish among patients according to length of their illness as well as inpatient versus outpatient status, and to be modulated by premorbid IQ. The objective of this study was to evaluate the MMN elicited by both frequency and duration deviant stimuli in patients with early schizophrenia (EP) recruited from an outpatient clinic in Boston, Massachusetts. Methods. Twenty-two healthy controls (HC) and 22 age-, handedness-, and gender-matched EP were tested using a frequency and duration MMN paradigm. Clinical data were also collected. Results. Frequency MMN amplitude but not duration MMN was significantly reduced in EP relative to HC subjects (P = .015). Conclusions. These results indicate that in this sample of early psychosis outpatient group, reductions in frequency MMN but not in duration MMN index clinical status. The relationship between age at first hospitalization and MMN frequency and duration amplitude and latency indicates that neurodevelopmental stage, auditory function, and clinical status are tightly linked.

Real-time fMRI feedback impacts brain activation, results in auditory hallucinations reduction: Part 1: Superior temporal gyrus -Preliminary evidence.

Auditory hallucinations (AH) are one of the core symptoms of schizophrenia (SZ) and constitute a significant source of suffering and disability. One third of SZ patients experience pharmacology-resistant AH, so an alternative/complementary treatment strategy is needed to alleviate this debilitating condition. In this study, real-time functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging neurofeedback (rt-fMRI NFB), a non-invasive technique, was used to teach 10 SZ patients with pharmacology-resistant AH to modulate their brain activity in the superior temporal gyrus (STG), a key area in the neurophysiology of AH. A functional task was designed in order to provide patients with a specific strategy to help them modify their brain activity in the desired direction. Specifically, they received neurofeedback from their own STG and were trained to upregulate it while listening to their own voice recording and downregulate it while ignoring a stranger's voice recording. This guided performance neurofeedback training resulted in a) a significant reduction in STG activation while ignoring a stranger's voice, and b) reductions in AH scores after the neurofeedback session. A single, 21-minute session of rt-fMRI NFB was enough to produce these effects, suggesting that this approach may be an efficient and clinically viable alternative for the treatment of pharmacology-resistant AH.

Real-time fMRI neurofeedback reduces auditory hallucinations and modulates resting state connectivity of involved brain regions: Part 2: Default mode network -preliminary evidence.

Auditory hallucinations (AHs) are one of the most distressing symptoms of schizophrenia (SZ) and are often resistant to medication. Imaging studies of individuals with SZ show hyperactivation of the default mode network (DMN) and the superior temporal gyrus (STG). Studies in SZ show DMN hyperconnectivity and reduced anticorrelation between DMN and the central executive network (CEN). DMN hyperconnectivity has been associated with positive symptoms such as AHs while reduced DMN anticorrelations with cognitive impairment. Using real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rt-fMRI-NFB) we trained SZ patients to modulate DMN and CEN networks. Meditation is effective in reducing AHs in SZ and to modulate brain network integration and increase DMN anticorrelations. Consequently, patients were provided with meditation strategies to enhance their abilities to modulate DMN/CEN. Results show a reduction of DMN hyperconnectivity and increase in DMNCEN anticorrelation. Furthermore, the change in individual DMN connectivity significantly correlated with reductions in AHs. This is the first time that meditation enhanced through rt-fMRI-NFB is used to reduce AHs in SZ. Moreover, it provides the first empirical evidence for a direct causal relation between meditation enhanced rt-fMRI-NFB modulation of DMNCEN activity and post-intervention modulation of resting state networks ensuing in reductions in frequency and severity of AHs.

P300 as an index of transition to psychosis and of remission: Data from a clinical high risk for psychosis study and review of literature.

Auditory P300 oddball and novel components index working memory operations and salience processing, respectively, and are regarded as biomarkers of neurocognitive changes in both chronic and first-episode schizophrenia. Much less is known about whether P300 abnormalities exist in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR) and if they are predictors of both transition to psychosis and remission from symptoms. One hundred and four CHR and 69 healthy control individuals (HC) completed P300 oddball paradigm, and 131 CHR and 69 HC subjects completed P300 novel paradigm. All CHR subjects were followed up for one year and stratified into CHR converters (CHRC) and non-converters (CHR-NC), with CHR-NC further stratified into remitted and non-remitted subgroups. Between-group comparisons of P300 oddball and novel amplitude and latency were performed among CHRC, CHR-NC and HC, as well as among CHRC, non-remitted CHR, remitted CHR and HC. CHR converters had lower fronto-central P300 novel amplitude as well as marginally lower P300 oddball amplitude relative to HC. When CHR non-converters were stratified into remitted and non-remitted subgroups, P300 novel amplitude in remitted CHR subjects was comparable to HC, and it was higher than that in CHR subjects who converted to psychosis or who did not remit. Thus, reduced P300 novel amplitude indexing impaired salience processing marked both conversion to psychosis and remission from psychotic symptoms.

Brain functional connectivity data enhance prediction of clinical outcome in youth at risk for psychosis.

The first episode of psychosis is typically preceded by a prodromal phase with subthreshold symptoms and functional decline. Improved outcome prediction in this stage is needed to allow targeted early intervention. This study assesses a combined clinical and resting-state fMRI prediction model in 137 adolescents and young adults at Clinical High Risk (CHR) for psychosis from the Shanghai At Risk for Psychosis (SHARP) program. Based on outcome at one-year follow-up, participants were separated into three outcome categories including good outcome (symptom remission, N = 71), intermediate outcome (ongoing CHR symptoms, N = 30), and poor outcome (conversion to psychosis or treatment-refractory, N = 36). Validated clinical predictors from the psychosis-risk calculator were combined with measures of resting-state functional connectivity. Using multinomial logistic regression analysis and leave-one-out cross-validation, a clinical-only prediction model did not achieve a significant level of outcome prediction (F1 = 0.32, p = .154). An imaging-only model yielded a significant prediction model (F1 = 0.41, p = .016), but a combined model including both clinical and connectivity measures showed the best performance (F1 = 0.46, p < .001). Influential predictors in this model included functional decline, verbal learning performance, a family history of psychosis, default-mode and frontoparietal within-network connectivity, and between-network connectivity among language, salience, dorsal attention, sensorimotor, and cerebellar networks. These findings suggest that brain changes reflected by alterations in functional connectivity may be useful for outcome prediction in the prodromal stage.