Functional connectivity of subsystems of the default-mode network in patients with early psychotic symptoms
Nicky Lute, I. Lemmers-Jansen, L. Krabbendam, M. van Buuren
Neuroimage: Reports March 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynirp.2025.100248 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case-control study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 69 |
| Population | Patients with early psychotic symptoms and healthy volunteers |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Key findings | No group differences were found in functional connectivity within or between default-mode network subnetworks between patients with early psychotic symptoms and controls. Lower connectivity between the medial prefrontal and posterior medial subnetworks, and between medial prefrontal and anterior temporal subnetworks, predicted greater severity of negative symptoms. |
Abstract
Resting-state connectivity of the default-mode network (DMN) is aberrant in patients with chronic psychotic disorders as well in individuals with early stage psychosis. Studies of the DMN in healthy volunteers revealed that the DMN comprises several subnetworks. However, it is not yet clear if connectivity between and within these DMN subnetworks is aberrant in patients with early psychotic symptoms nor whether these connectivity patterns are related to symptomatology. This initial investigation examined functional connectivity between and within the DMN subnetworks in patients with early psychotic symptoms and in healthy volunteers, and probed how these connectivity patterns were related to the severity of clinical symptomatology. Functional connectivity was measured during resting-state in 30 patients with early psychotic symptoms and in 39 controls using functional MRI. We did not observe differences in connectivity within and between the subnetworks of the DMN between the control group and the early psychosis group. However, lower functional connectivity between the medial prefrontal and posterior medial subnetworks and between medial prefrontal and anterior temporal subnetworks of the DMN did predict the severity of the negative symptoms. The findings of this initial investigation provide insight into the associations between functional connectivity of DMN subnetworks and symptomatology in patients with early psychotic symptoms.
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 4
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- The default mode network: where the idiosyncratic self meets the shared social world Nature Reviews Neuroscience January 22, 2021
- World/self ambivalence: A shared mechanism in different subsets of psychotic experiences? Linking symptoms with resting-state fMRI. Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging May 30, 2020
- Functional connectivity in the resting brain: A network analysis of the default mode hypothesis Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences December 27, 2002