Altered working memory-related brain activity in children at familial high risk for psychosis: A preliminary study
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1-s2.0-S0920996421005144-main.pdf
Description
Published version
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766.35 KB
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Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
van Gool, Kevin CA
Collin, Guusje
Bauer, Clemens CC
Molokotos, Elena
Mesholam-Gately, Raquelle I
Thermenos, Heidi W
Seidman, Larry J
Gabrieli, John DE
Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan
Keshavan, Matcheri S
Date Issued
2022
Journal
Schizophrenia Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Citation
van Gool, Kevin CA, Collin, Guusje, Bauer, Clemens CC, Molokotos, Elena, Mesholam-Gately, Raquelle I et al. 2022. "Altered working memory-related brain activity in children at familial high risk for psychosis: A preliminary study." Schizophrenia Research, 240.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia spectrum disorders are heritable illnesses that usually manifest in early adulthood but are increasingly viewed as neurodevelopmental disorders. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies show altered brain activity during performance of working memory (WM) tasks in both individuals with schizophrenia and their first-degree relatives as compared to healthy controls (HC). This study examined whether similar changes are already present in pre-adolescent children at familial high-risk (FHR) for psychosis. METHODS: 37 children (17 FHR, 20 HC) between 7 and 12 years old participated in this study. WM performance was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WISC-IV). To assess brain activation during WM performance, participants completed a visual block-designed n-back task with 2 conditions (2-back and 0-back) during scanning. fMRI data was preprocessed and analyzed using FSL Feat. RESULTS: Compared to HC, FHR children showed significantly lower WISC-IV WM scores. In addition, FHR children exhibited hypoactivation in the 2-back (versus 0-back) condition in a cluster encompassing bilateral precuneus and cuneus and right posterior cingulate cortex. There were no significant group-differences in n-back task performance and brain activation. The precuneus cluster was not correlated with n-back performance or WISC WM scores. CONCLUSIONS: The current results provide preliminary evidence of impaired WM function and altered brain activity during WM performance in children with a familial predisposition for psychosis. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether these findings are related to abnormal brain development and predictive of cognitive deficits and psychosis later in life.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SCHRES.2021.12.030
