Negative symptoms are associated with modularity and thalamic connectivity in schizophrenia

Age Trajectories of the Structural Connectome in Child and Adolescent Offspring of Individuals With Bipolar Disorder or Schizophrenia

“…Case-control studies that have investigated the structural connectome in individuals with schizophrenia have mostly shown lower overall connectivity strength ( 25 , 29 , 30 , 33 ), global efficiency ( 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 61 , 62 ), and clustering ( 29 , 30 , 33 ) [but see ( 24 , 25 , 27 , 29 )], with the latter also being lower in siblings ( 33 ). Our findings of child and adolescent SZo showing a subtle but significant decline in these structural connectome properties with increasing age suggest that the deviations found after illness onset are possibly partially explained by familial risk of the disorder.…”

“…With respect to RC connectivity, studies have consistently found reduced anatomical RC (hub-to-hub) connectivity in schizophrenia ( 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 30 ). Correspondingly, siblings of individuals with schizophrenia exhibit RC disruptions ( 33 ).…”

“…A growing body of literature has demonstrated disruptions of the connectome—the comprehensive network of the brain’s structural connections—in individuals with bipolar disorder ( 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ) and schizophrenia ( 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ), as well as their siblings ( 33 ) and offspring ( 15 , 34 , 35 , 36 ). A recurrent finding in both patient groups ( 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 30 ) and their relatives ( 33 , 34 ) has been the aberrant connectivity of the brain network’s “rich club” (RC), a coherent constellation of highly interconnected hubs reputed to act as the backbone for global brain integration ( 37 , 38 , 39 ). Most of the studies conducted to date are cross-sectional and thus provide no insight into the developmental trajectory of this central system of brain connectivity.…”

Treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia: a challenge for clinical research

“…Overall, the three scales showed domain-specific correspondence and cover the complex psychopathology in schizophrenia. Since the neurobiological background of negative symptoms is widely unknown, Bayrakçi et al [ 4 ] examined Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)-based white matter architecture in schizophrenia patients compared to healthy controls and correlated network metrics with severity of negative, positive and cognitive symptoms using BNSS, the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) and neurocognitive tests. They found higher modularity, lower rich connections and lower nodal degree of the left thalamus and left putamen in schizophrenia patients compared to controls.…”