Data from: Altered fronto-temporal functional connectivity in individuals at ultra-high-risk of developing psychosis

Background: The superior temporal gyrus (STG) is one of the key regions
implicated in psychosis, given that abnormalities in this region are
associated with an increased risk of conversion from an at-risk mental
state to psychosis. However, inconsistent results regarding the functional
connectivity strength of the STG have been reported, and the regional
heterogeneous characteristics of the STG should be considered. Methods: To
investigate the distinctive functional connection of each subregion in the
STG, we parcellated the STG of each hemisphere into three regions: the
planum temporale, Heschl’s gyrus, and planum polare. Resting-state
functional magnetic resonance imaging was obtained from 22 first-episode
psychosis (FEP) patients, 41 individuals at ultra-high-risk for psychosis
(UHR), and 47 demographically matched healthy controls. Results:
Significant group differences (in seed-based connectivity) were
demonstrated in the left planum temporale and from both the right and left
Heschl’s gyrus seeds. From the left planum temporale seed, the FEP and UHR
groups exhibited increased connectivity to the bilateral dorsolateral
prefrontal cortex. In contrast, the FEP and UHR groups demonstrated
decreased connectivity from the bilateral Heschl’s gyrus seeds to the
dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. The enhanced connectivity between the
left planum temporale and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was
positively correlated with positive symptom severity in individuals at UHR
(r = .34, p = .03). Conclusions: These findings corroborate the
fronto-temporal connectivity disruption hypothesis in schizophrenia by
providing evidence supporting the altered fronto-temporal intrinsic
functional connection at earlier stages of psychosis. Our data indicate
that subregion-specific aberrant fronto-temporal interactions exist in the
STG at the early stage of psychosis, thus suggesting that these
aberrancies are the neural underpinning of proneness to psychosis.

研究背景：颞上回（superior temporal gyrus, STG）是与精神病性障碍密切相关的关键脑区之一，该脑区的异常与精神疾病高危状态向精神病性障碍转化的风险升高存在关联。但目前针对颞上回功能连接强度的研究结果存在不一致性，因此需要考虑该脑区的区域异质性特征。
研究方法：为探究颞上回各亚区的特异性功能连接模式，我们将每个大脑半球的颞上回划分为三个亚区：颞平面（planum temporale）、赫歇尔回（Heschl’s gyrus）与颞极平面（planum polare）。本研究共纳入22例首发精神病（first-episode psychosis, FEP）患者、41例精神病超高危（ultra-high-risk for psychosis, UHR）个体，以及47名人口学特征匹配的健康对照者，采集其静息态功能磁共振成像（resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI）数据。
研究结果：基于种子点的功能连接分析显示，左侧颞平面以及双侧赫歇尔回的种子点均存在显著的组间差异。以左侧颞平面为种子点时，首发精神病组与超高危组均表现出与双侧背外侧前额叶皮层的连接增强；与之相反，以双侧赫歇尔回为种子点时，首发精神病组与超高危组均表现出与背侧前扣带回皮层的连接减弱。进一步相关性分析显示，左侧颞平面与右侧背外侧前额叶皮层之间的连接增强程度与超高危个体的阳性症状严重程度呈正相关（r=0.34, p=0.03）。
研究结论：本研究结果为精神分裂症的额-颞连接异常假说提供了支持证据——在精神病性障碍的早期阶段即存在额-颞内在功能连接的改变。我们的数据表明，精神病性障碍早期阶段的颞上回存在亚区特异性的异常额-颞交互作用，提示这些异常可能是精神病性易感性的神经生物学基础。