1. Intrinsic mesocorticolimbic connectivity is negatively associated with social amotivation in people with schizophrenia
- Author
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Marie-José van Tol, Edith J. Liemburg, André Aleman, Nicky G Klaasen, Gerdina H. M. Pijnenborg, Esther M. Opmeer, Pengfei Xu, Clinical Psychology and Experimental Psychopathology, Interdisciplinary Centre Psychopathology and Emotion regulation (ICPE), Perceptual and Cognitive Neuroscience (PCN), Clinical Neuropsychology, and Clinical Cognitive Neuropsychiatry Research Program (CCNP)
- Subjects
Male ,SYMPTOMS ,PREDICTION ,ACTIVATION ,DOPAMINE ,0302 clinical medicine ,Mesencephalon ,COGNITIVE CONTROL ,DEFICITS ,Neural Pathways ,Limbic System ,Apathy ,Cerebral Cortex ,Mesocorticolimbic pathways ,Amotivation ,Electroencephalography ,FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY ,Middle Aged ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,NETWORKS ,Ventral tegmental area ,Substantia Nigra ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Schizophrenia ,APATHY ,Female ,Schizophrenic Psychology ,medicine.symptom ,Psychology ,medicine.drug ,Adult ,Temporoparietal junction ,Prefrontal Cortex ,Substantia nigra ,03 medical and health sciences ,Dopamine ,medicine ,Humans ,Social Behavior ,Biological Psychiatry ,Ventral striatum ,MOTIVATION ,medicine.disease ,030227 psychiatry ,Psychotic Disorders ,nervous system ,Resting state functional connectivity ,Neuroscience ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Social amotivation - Abstract
Background: Social amotivation is a core element of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. However, it is still largely unknown which neural substrates underpin social amotivation in people with schizophrenia, though deficiencies in the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system have been proposed.Methods: We examined the association between social amotivation and substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area-seeded intrinsic connectivity in 84 people with schizophrenia using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging.Results: Spontaneous fluctuations of midbrain dopaminergic regions were positively associated with striatal and prefrontal fluctuations in people with schizophrenia. Most importantly, social amotivation was negatively associated with functional connectivity between the midbrain's substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area and medial-and lateral prefrontal cortex, the temporoparietal junction, and dorsal and ventral striatum. These associations were observed independently of depressive and positive symptoms.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that social amotivation in people with schizophrenia is associated with altered intrinsic connectivity of mesocorticolimbic pathways linked to cognitive control and reward processing. Dysconnectivity of dopaminergic neuronal ensembles that are fundamental to approach behavior and motivation may help explain the lack of initiative social behavior in people with social amotivation. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
- Published
- 2019