Altered functional connectivity subserving expressed emotion environments in schizophrenia: An fNIRS study

Living in high-expressed emotion (EE) environments, characterized by critical, hostile, or over-involved family attitudes, has been linked to increased relapse rates among individuals with schizophrenia (SZ). In our previous work (Wang et al., 2023), we conducted the first feasibility study of using...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Schizophrenia research 2024-08, Vol.270, p.178-187
Main Authors: Wang, Cuiyan, Zhang, Yueqian, Chong, Jie Sheng, Zhang, Wei, Zhang, Xi, McIntyre, Roger S., Li, Zhifei, Ho, Roger C.M., Tang, Tong Boon, Lim, Lam Ghai
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Expressed emotion environment
Functional connectivity
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy
Prefrontal cortex
Schizophrenia
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Living in high-expressed emotion (EE) environments, characterized by critical, hostile, or over-involved family attitudes, has been linked to increased relapse rates among individuals with schizophrenia (SZ). In our previous work (Wang et al., 2023), we conducted the first feasibility study of using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) with our developed EE stimuli to examine cortical hemodynamics in SZ. To better understand the neural mechanisms underlying EE environmental factors in SZ, we extended our investigation by employing functional connectivity (FC) analysis with a graph theory approach to fNIRS signals. Relative to healthy controls (N=40), individuals with SZ (N=37) exhibited altered connectivity across the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC), and left superior temporal gyrus (STG) while exposed to EE environments. Notably, while individuals with SZ were exposed to high-EE environments, (i) reduced connectivity was observed in these brain regions and (ii) the left vlPFC-STG coupling was found to be associated with the negative symptom severity. Taken together, our FC findings suggest individuals with SZ experience a more extensive disruption in neural functioning and coordination, particularly indicating an increased susceptibility to high-EE environments. This further supports the potential utility of integrating fNIRS with the created EE stimuli for assessing EE environmental influences, paving the way for more targeted therapeutic interventions.
ISSN:0920-9964
1573-2509
1573-2509
DOI:10.1016/j.schres.2024.06.019