Functional magnetic resonance imaging of schizophrenic patients and comparison subjects during a verbal fluency task / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

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.