Structural connectivity of an interoception network in schizophrenia

Beier Yao; Pan Gu; Carly A Lasagna; Scott Peltier; Stephan F Taylor; Ivy F Tso; Katharine N Thakkar

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2023.111636

Structural connectivity of an interoception network in schizophrenia

Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. 2023 Jun:331:111636. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2023.111636. Epub 2023 Mar 28.

Authors

Beier Yao¹, Pan Gu², Carly A Lasagna³, Scott Peltier⁴, Stephan F Taylor⁵, Ivy F Tso⁶, Katharine N Thakkar⁷

Affiliations

¹ Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: byao2@partners.org.
² Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
⁴ Functional MRI Laboratory, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
⁷ Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA; Division of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.

Abstract

Interoception refers to the processing, integration, and interpretation of bodily signals by the brain. Interoception is key to not only basic survival, but also motivational and affective functioning. There is emerging evidence suggesting altered interoception in schizophrenia, but few studies have explored potential neural underpinnings. The current study aims to investigate the anatomical connectivity of a previously identified interoception network in individuals with schizophrenia, and the relationship between network structural connectivity and both emotional functioning and clinical symptoms. Thirty-five participants with schizophrenia (SZ) and 36 healthy control participants (HC) underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and performed tasks measuring emotional functioning. Probabilistic tractography was used to identify white matter tracts connecting key hubs in an interoception network. Microstructural integrity of these tracts was compared across groups and correlated with measures of emotional functioning and symptom severity. Compared with HC, SZ exhibited altered structural connectivity in the interoception network. In HC, the structural connectivity of the network was significantly correlated with emotion recognition, supporting a link between the interoception network and emotional functioning. However, this correlation was much weaker in SZ. These findings suggest that altered interoception may have implications for illness mechanisms of schizophrenia, especially in relation to emotional deficits.

Keywords: Allostasis; Amygdala; Anterior cingulate cortex; DTI; Facial emotion recognition; Insula.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Brain / diagnostic imaging
Diffusion Tensor Imaging / methods
Humans
Interoception*
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Schizophrenia* / diagnostic imaging

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

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