The Association Between Lentiform Nucleus Function and Cognitive Impairments in Schizophrenia

Ping Li; Shu-Wan Zhao; Xu-Sha Wu; Ya-Juan Zhang; Lei Song; Lin Wu; Xiao-Fan Liu; Yu-Fei Fu; Di Wu; Wen-Jun Wu; Ya-Hong Zhang; Hong Yin; Long-Biao Cui; Fan Guo

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2021.777043

The Association Between Lentiform Nucleus Function and Cognitive Impairments in Schizophrenia

Front Hum Neurosci. 2021 Oct 21:15:777043. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.777043. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Ping Li¹, Shu-Wan Zhao², Xu-Sha Wu², Ya-Juan Zhang³, Lei Song³, Lin Wu³, Xiao-Fan Liu², Yu-Fei Fu², Di Wu⁴, Wen-Jun Wu⁴, Ya-Hong Zhang⁴, Hong Yin², Long-Biao Cui^{3

5}, Fan Guo²

Affiliations

¹ Medical Imaging Department 1, Xi'an Mental Health Center, Xi'an, China.
² Department of Radiology, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
³ Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Medical Psychology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
⁵ Department of Radiology, The Second Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Cognitive decline is the core schizophrenia symptom, which is now well accepted. Holding a role in various aspects of cognition, lentiform nucleus (putamen and globus pallidus) dysfunction contributes to the psychopathology of this disease. However, the effects of lentiform nucleus function on cognitive impairments in schizophrenia are yet to be investigated. Objectives: We aim to detect the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) alterations in patients with schizophrenia, and examine how their behavior correlates in relation to the cognitive impairments of the patients. Methods: All participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and cognitive assessment (digit span and digit symbol coding tests). Screening of brain regions with significant changes in fALFF values was based on analysis of the whole brain. The data were analyzed between Jun 2020 and Mar 2021. There were no interventions beyond the routine therapy determined by their clinicians on the basis of standard clinical practice. Results: There were 136 patients (75 men and 61 women, 24.1 ± 7.4 years old) and 146 healthy controls (82 men and 64 women, 24.2 ± 5.2 years old) involved in the experiments seriatim. Patients with schizophrenia exhibited decreased raw scores in cognitive tests (p < 0.001) and increased fALFF in the bilateral lentiform nuclei (left: 67 voxels; x = -24, y = -6, z = 3; peak t-value = 6.90; right: 16 voxels; x = 18, y = 0, z = 3; peak t-value = 6.36). The fALFF values in the bilateral lentiform nuclei were positively correlated with digit span-backward test scores (left: r = 0.193, p = 0.027; right: r = 0.190, p = 0.030), and the right lentiform nucleus was positively correlated with digit symbol coding scores (r = 0.209, p = 0.016). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that cognitive impairments in schizophrenia are associated with lentiform nucleus function as revealed by MRI, involving working memory and processing speed.

Keywords: cognition; lentiform nucleus; magnetic resonance imaging; phenotype; schizophrenia.