Large-scale mechanism hypothesis and research prospects of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia based on magnetic resonance imaging

Yue-Wen Gu; Jing-Wen Fan; Shu-Wan Zhao; Xiao-Fan Liu; Hong Yin; Long-Biao Cui

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25915

Large-scale mechanism hypothesis and research prospects of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia based on magnetic resonance imaging

Heliyon. 2024 Feb 10;10(4):e25915. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25915. eCollection 2024 Feb 29.

Authors

Yue-Wen Gu^{1

2

3}, Jing-Wen Fan^{1

2}, Shu-Wan Zhao^{1

2}, Xiao-Fan Liu^{1

2}, Hong Yin^{2

4}, Long-Biao Cui^{1

2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Shaanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Clinic Genetics, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
² Schizophrenia Imaging Lab, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
³ Department of Radiology, The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu, China.
⁴ Department of Radiology, Xi'an People's Hospital (Xi'an Fourth Hospital), Xi'an, China.
⁵ Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.

Abstract

Cognitive impairments in schizophrenia are pivotal clinical issues that need to be solved urgently. However, the mechanism remains unknown. It has been suggested that cognitive impairments in schizophrenia are associated with connectome damage, and are especially relevant to the disrupted hub nodes in the frontal and parietal lobes. Activating the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) via repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) could result in improved cognition. Based on several previous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies on schizophrenia, we found that the first-episode patients showed connectome damage, as well as abnormal activation and connectivity of the DLPFC and inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Accordingly, we proposed that DLPFC-IPL pathway destruction might mediate connectome damage of cognitive impairments in schizophrenia. In the meantime, with the help of multimodal MRI and noninvasive neuromodulation tool, we may not only validate the hypothesis, but also find IPL as the potential intervention target for cognitive impairments in schizophrenia.

Keywords: Cognitive impairments; Connectome; Magnetic resonance imaging; Schizophrenia; Treatment.

Publication types

Review