PREFRONTAL STRUCTURE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIPS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

这个子项目是许多利用资源的研究子项目之一 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目的主要支持 而子项目的主要调查员可能是由其他来源提供的， 包括其它NIH来源。 列出的子项目总成本可能 代表子项目使用的中心基础设施的估计数量， 而不是由NCRR赠款提供给子项目或子项目工作人员的直接资金。 这项新的研究的目的是阐明前额叶结构异常和执行功能障碍之间的关系进行了一项研究，精神分裂症患者与对照组相比，使用多模态磁共振成像（MRI）技术。 背景资料：与精神分裂症易感性相关的基因可能会影响神经发育，导致前额叶结构和功能异常。前额叶皮质大约占人类皮质的四分之一，是人类最独特的大脑的一部分。它是大脑最后成熟的部分之一，但通常也是大脑随着年龄增长而受到影响的第一部分。前额叶皮层调节执行过程，如注意力、计划、判断、冲动控制、自我监控和解决问题。研究表明，与对照组相比，精神分裂症患者及其健康亲属的前额灰质减少，这表明遗传成分（Cannon等人，1998年）。此外，执行功能的问题是精神分裂症素质的相当强的相关性（Snitz等人，2006），并且减少的前额叶脑活动也是精神分裂症的可靠关联（Snitz等人，2005年）。迄今为止，大多数研究都是孤立地分析结构和功能数据。本研究旨在探讨精神分裂症患者、精神分裂症患者的一级生物学亲属和对照组的前额叶皮质结构异常与BOLD反应之间的关系。我们假设，无论是结构或血流动力学反应的前额叶异常的精神分裂症患者将有一个类似的区域异常的互补域。在精神分裂症患者的一级生物学亲属中将观察到结构和BOLD反应之间的类似区域关联，这表明异常与精神分裂症的素质有关。在对照受试者中，结构和血流动力学反应的协变将不太稳健。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. The purpose of this novel study is to elucidate the relationship between abnormalities in prefrontal structure and impairments in executive functioning by conducting a study of schizophrenia patients compared to controls using multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Background: Genes associated with vulnerability to schizophrenia may affect neurodevelopment and result in abnormalities in prefrontal structure and function. The prefrontal cortex occupies approximately one quarter of the human cortex and is part of the brain that is most unique to humans. It is the one of the last parts of the brain to mature, but is typically also the first part of the brain to suffer with age. The prefrontal cortex regulates executive processes such as attention, planning, judgment, impulse control, self-monitoring, and problem solving. Studies have demonstrated reduced prefrontal gray matter in schizophrenia patients and their healthy relatives compared to controls suggesting a genetic component (Cannon et al., 1998). In addition, problems in executive functioning are a fairly robust correlate of the schizophrenia diathesis (Snitz et al., 2006) and reduced prefrontal brain activity is also a reliable correlate of schizophrenia (Snitz et al., 2005). To date, most studies have analyzed structural and functional data in isolation. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between abnormalities in prefrontal cortical structure and BOLD response in schizophrenia patients, first-degree biological relatives of schizophrenia patients, and control subjects. We hypothesize that schizophrenia patients with prefrontal abnormalities in either structure or hemodynamic responses will have a similar regional abnormality in the complementary domain. Similar regional associations between structure and BOLD response will be observed in first-degree biological relatives of schizophrenia patients suggesting the abnormalities are related to the diathesis for schizophrenia. Covariation of structure and hemodynamic response will be less robust in control subjects.