Altered Neural Correlate of the Self-Agency Experience in First-Episode Schizophrenia-Spectrum Patients: An fMRI Study
Filip Španiel, Jaroslav Tintěra, Jan Rydlo, Ibrahim Ibrahim, Tomáš Kašpárek, Jiřı́ Horáček, Yuliya Zaytseva, Martin Matějka, Markéta Fialová, Andrea Slováková, Pavol Mikoláš, Tomáš Melicher, Natálie Görnerová, Cyril Höschl, Tomáš Hájek
Schizophrenia Bulletin December 18, 2015 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbv188 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 70 |
| Population | Patients with first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and healthy controls |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Posterior cingulate Schizophrenia object-oriented programming Medial frontal gyrus Audiology Sense of agency Error-related negativity Psychosis Anterior cingulate cortex Cognitive psychology Cognition |
| Citations | 55 |
| Key findings | During self-agency experience, patients with first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum disorders showed deficits in cortical activation in medial frontal gyrus and posterior cingulate gyrus and impaired anti-correlated default mode and central-executive network switching. |
Abstract
Background: The phenomenology of the clinical symptoms indicates that disturbance of the sense of self be a core marker of schizophrenia.
Aims: To compare neural activity related to the self/other-agency judgment in patients with first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (FES, n = 35) and healthy controls (HC, n = 35).
Method: A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using motor task with temporal distortion of the visual feedback was employed. A task-related functional connectivity was analyzed with the use of independent component analysis (ICA).
Results: (1) During self-agency experience, FES showed a deficit in cortical activation in medial frontal gyrus (BA 10) and posterior cingulate gyrus, (BA 31; P < .05, Family-Wise Error [FWE] corrected). (2) Pooled-sample task-related ICA revealed that the self/other-agency judgment was dependent upon anti-correlated default mode and central-executive networks (DMN/CEN) dynamic switching. This antagonistic mechanism was substantially impaired in FES during the task.
Discussion: During self-agency experience, FES demonstrate deficit in engagement of cortical midline structures along with substantial attenuation of anti-correlated DMN/CEN activity underlying normal self/other-agency discriminative processes.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| A default mode of brain function Normal adult human brain | 2001 | Observational study | |
| Resting-State Functional Connectivity Reflects Structural Connectivity in the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational cohort | |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| The precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex plays a pivotal role in the default mode network: Evidence from a partial correlation network analysis Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational study |
Citations in the library
Cites 5
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Self-disturbance and schizophrenia: structure, specificity, pathogenesis (Current issues, New directions). Schizophrenia Research 2014
- The Neurodynamic Organization of Modality-Dependent Hallucinations Cerebral Cortex April 24, 2012
- Is the Sense of Agency in Schizophrenia Influenced by Resting-State Variation in Self-Referential Regions of the Brain? Schizophrenia Bulletin July 28, 2015
- Philosophical conceptions of the self: implications for cognitive science. Trends in Cognitive Sciences January 2000