Am J Psychiatry 157:1634-1645, October 2000
© 2000 American Psychiatric Association
Brain Activation Patterns in Schizophrenic and Comparison Volunteers During a Matched-Performance Auditory Recognition Task
Henry H. Holcomb, M.D.,
Adrienne C. Lahti, M.D.,
Deborah R. Medoff, Ph.D.,
Martin Weiler, M.D.,
Robert F. Dannals, Ph.D., and
Carol A. Tamminga, M.D.
OBJECTIVE: The biological characteristics of schizophrenia are often studied by using functional imaging techniques. However, since volunteers with schizophrenia routinely fail to perform as accurately or as quickly as healthy volunteers, it is difficult to ascertain whether a particular deficit in blood flow to a brain region is due to behavior or to the underlying illness. In this report, investigators used an auditory recognition task to assess brain blood flow patterns and behavioral correlates of schizophrenic patient volunteers trained on the task. METHOD: Twelve healthy volunteers and 18 volunteers with schizophrenia were trained to make tone frequency recognitions. Accuracy and stimuli were matched between groups. Participants were required to press a button to indicate whether a briefly presented tone was the high-frequency (1500 Hz) reference tone or one of a lower frequency level (level chosen to elicit an 80% accuracy score). Subjects underwent bolus [15O]H2O blood flow positron emission tomography during inactive rest, a sensory motor control condition, and the decision task. Blood flow patterns were assessed between conditions and between groups. RESULTS: As a group, the patients with schizophrenia (who performed as quickly and accurately as the comparison subjects) exhibited significantly less change in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) to the anterior cingulate and supplementary motor cortices when switching from the sensory motor control to the decision condition. There were also marked between-group differences in correlations between rCBF and response time. Whereas the comparison subjects exhibited progressively greater blood flow to the frontal cortex in association with longer response times, the schizophrenic patients exhibited progressively lower blood flow in conjunction with extended response times. CONCLUSIONS: The failure to appropriately enhance cingulate activity when engaged in a demanding task and the progressive, time-dependent decline in frontal blood flow suggest that patients with schizophrenia are unable to make optimal use of frontocingulate systems when maximally engaged in high-error tasks.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
|
|
 
B. E. Snitz, A. MacDonald III, J. D. Cohen, R. Y. Cho, T. Becker, and C. S. Carter
Lateral and Medial Hypofrontality in First-Episode Schizophrenia: Functional Activity in a Medication-Naive State and Effects of Short-Term Atypical Antipsychotic Treatment
Am J Psychiatry,
December 1, 2005;
162(12):
2322 - 2329.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. E Wexler and M. D Bell
Cognitive Remediation and Vocational Rehabilitation for Schizophrenia
Schizophr Bull,
October 1, 2005;
31(4):
931 - 941.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Mendrek, K. R. Laurens, K. A. Kiehl, E. T. C. Ngan, E. Stip, and P. F. Liddle
Changes in distributed neural circuitry function in patients with first-episode schizophrenia
The British Journal of Psychiatry,
September 1, 2004;
185(3):
205 - 214.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. C. Lahti, H. H. Holcomb, D. R. Medoff, M. A. Weiler, C. A. Tamminga, and W. T. Carpenter Jr.
Abnormal Patterns of Regional Cerebral Blood Flow in Schizophrenia With Primary Negative Symptoms During an Effortful Auditory Recognition Task
Am J Psychiatry,
November 1, 2001;
158(11):
1797 - 1808.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
Get information about faster international access.
Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2000
American Psychiatric Association.
All rights reserved.
Home
| Search
| Current Issue
| Past Issues
| Subscribe
| All APPI Journals
| Help
| Contact Us
|
