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Objective@#Abnormalities of static brain activity have been reported in schizophrenia, but it remains to be clarified the temporal variability of intrinsic brain activities in schizophrenia and how atypical antipsychotics affect it. @*Methods@#We employed a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and a sliding-window analysis of dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dALFF) to evaluate the dynamic brain activities in schizophrenia (SZ) patients before and after 8-week antipsychotic treatment. Twenty-six schizophrenia individuals and 26 matched healthy controls (HC) were included in this study. @*Results@#Compared with HC, SZ showed stronger dALFF in the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG.R) at baseline. After medication, the SZ group exhibited reduced dALFF in the right middle occipital gyrus (MOG.R) and increased dALFF in the left superior frontal gyrus (SFG.L), right middle frontal gyrus (MFG.R), and right inferior parietal lobule (IPL.R). Dynamic ALFF in IPL.R was found to significant negative correlate with the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) scores at baseline. @*Conclusion@#Our results showed dynamic intrinsic brain activities altered in schizophrenia after short term antipsychotic treatment. The findings of this study support and expand the application of dALFF method in the study of the pathological mechanism in psychosis in the future.
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Objective · To observe the changes of cerebral gray matter pre- and post-treatment with short term drugs in patients with schizophrenia. Methods · T1-weighted brain MRIs were obtained on a 3T scanner in 21 controls and 27 subjects with schizophrenia who were not given antipsychotic medication. The controls and 21 schizophrenia patients received the second scan after 8 weeks of antipsychotic treatment. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) were used to investigate the differences in gray matter (GM), mainly about the regional GM volumes. Results · GM volumes were significantly smaller in the patient group than those of healthy controls in left cerebellum posterior lobe , left and right parahippocampalgyrus, left middle temporal gyrus(P=0.000, voxels>50). GM volumes extensively decreased after 8 weeks of antipsychotic-treatment compared with pre-treatment in the superior, middle, and inferior temporal gyri, superior,middle and inferior frontal gyri, parahippocampa gyri, cingulate gyri, right supramarginal gyrus, right cerebellum posterior lobe, and right lingual gyrus(P=0.000, voxels>50). Conclusion · Short term antipsychotic treatment (8 weeks) may have adverse effects on the gray matter of patients with acute schizophrenia by reducing the volume of gray matter.
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Psychosurgery, the neurosurgical treatment for psychiatric disorders, has a long and controversial history. The review introduces the birth of psychosurgery, the rise and fall of the frontal lobotomy and the transition to the modern era of psychosurgery, due to the development of the stereotactic instruments, and the different psychosurgical procedures. Today, recent advances in neuromodulation may provide an opportunity for psychosurgery to become a more attractive option for the treatment of psychiatric diseases. Current states in China and prospects of psychosurgery are also discussed.
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Amisulpride,a kind of the second generation antipsychotics,was marketed in China in 2010.A series of clinical research and experience before and after listed,especially the data based on Chinese population,provided evidence for the generalization and application of amisulpride.In order to optimize the clinical application of amisulpride,and improve the prognosis of patients,Expert Advice on the Practical Use of Amisulpride in the Treatment of Schizophrenia is presented here.This advice is based on the recent evidence and clinical experience,for guiding the clinical medication of amisulpride.
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Objective To explore the feature of functional connectivity of default mode network (DMN) and salience network (SN) in unmedicated schizophrenia patients during a resting state by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fM-RI). Methods The SPM8 and DPARSFA softwares combined with independent component analysis (ICA) were used to in-vestigate functional connectivity (FC) of the DMN and SN in 27 unmedicated patients with schizophrenia and 27 age-and gender-matched healthy controls. Results Concerning the DMN, patients with schizophrenia showed decreased FC in right inferior frontal gyrus , right precuneus(unadjusted P<0.05)and increased FC in right middle cingulate gyrus, left middle frontal gyrus(unadjusted P<0.05). With regard to the SN, patients showed reduced connectivity in left inferior frontal gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus, left anterior cingulate, left postcentral gyrus(unadjusted P<0.05)and increased connectivity in left superior temporal gyrus(unadjusted P<0.05). Correlation analyses showed that the increased FC of left superior temporal gyrus significantly correlated with PANSS-positive symptoms(r=0.568,P=0.002)and decreased FC of right precuneus significantly negatively correlated with delusion symptom(r=-0.458,P=0.016). Conclusion This study provides evidence for resting state functional abnormalities of DMN and SN in unmedicated schizophrenia patients. These aberrant function connectivities in some brain regions of the two networks could be a source of abnormal introspectively-oriented mental actives.
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ObjectiveTo investigate the neural mechanism of prospective memory(PM) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).MethodsFifteen healthy volunteers were enrolled,and all subjects were scanned with fMRI while performing the event-based PM tasks (double-task paradigm,including the ongoing task and PM task).And the image data were preprocessed and analyzed by using SPM8 software.Results ( 1 ) Compared to the control task,bilateral rostral prefrontal cortex ( x,y,z =6/- 2,54/42,- 8/- 12,t =3.71 ),right somatosensory association area ( x,y,z =14,- 62,64,t =4.64 ),superior temporal gyrus ( x,y,z =42,- 46,16,t =3.95 ) and right paracentral lobule (x,y,z =10,-22,76,t =4.01 ) were activated significantly by the ongoing task (P ＜ 0.001 ).(2) Bilateral rostral prefrontal cortex ( x,y,z =- 2/6,42/54,- 12/- 12,t =3.28) and paracentral lobule (x,y,z =- 30/10,- 22/- 22,72/76,t =4.25 ),left postcentral gyrus ( x,y,z =- 38,- 46,64,t=3.13) and middle occipital gyrus ( x,y,z =- 30,- 70,0,t =3.97 ) were activated significantly by the PM task (P ＜ 0.001 ).ConclusionRostral prefrontal cortex (BA 10 area) is the major area of prospective memory,and medial BA10 area may be involved in the monitoring of external cues.The present study supports the gateway hypotheses of prospective memory.
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Objective To study the changes in cortical activation of frontal lobes and temporal lobes between schizophrenic patients and comparison subjects during a verbal fluency task by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Methods Thirteen schizophrenic patients and 8 volunteers were studied during a verbal fluency task performance. fMRI of frontal lobes and temporal lobes was conducted at a GE 1.5 T Signa Horizon LX scanner while the subjects performed the task. Stimulus sequences were divided into six 30-second segments by using a task-activation paradigm that alternated between resting and stimulated states. Results Schizophrenic subjects demonstrated significantly less left frontal activation than comparison subjects during a word fluency task, and comparison subjects showed evidently more activation in left frontal lobes than in the right (P0.05). Conclusion These preliminary data suggest that fMRI has the sensitivity to detect the differences in activation between comparison subjects and schizophrenic patients during higher cortical functions.