The Role of Stress-Immune-Connectome Disruption in Mechanisms of Chinese Early Schizophrenia Spectrum

项目摘要/摘要 面向连接的非侵入性神经成像方法的出现使人们对大脑内部有了新的了解 大脑的工作原理。大脑的功能和结构连接体在调节 从基因到神经系统再到精神疾病的途径。沿着这些途径，我们假设 先天应激免疫通路的异常活动对大脑连接体有重要作用。 精神分裂症谱系障碍早期的精神障碍及其临床后果。该项目 建议扩展精神疾病中的Connectome项目，以表征大脑电路及其与 中国精神分裂症谱系障碍早期的应激-免疫轴功能障碍我们提出了一个 旨在克服关系中异质性的大样本患者的纵向研究 在精神疾病和压力-免疫-连接体轴之间，这是公认的推进研究的障碍 和治疗。我们将在五年内招募500名精神分裂症谱系障碍患者 开始了。他们将使用现代慢性应激和急性心理应激实验室范例进行评估。 以确定基线上的应激生物标志物。这些患者将与250名年龄和性别匹配的患者进行比较 健康对照组。该合作利用了美国合作伙伴和 中方合作伙伴在精神分裂症方面的临床免疫学研究专长。拟议的研究还包括 以我们正在进行的工作为基础，使用急性和慢性压力范例来了解压力是如何与 精神分裂症谱系障碍的脑结构和功能连接体。这一新颖的命题在美国。 而中国心理健康研究领域也得到了初步数据的有力支持。能够应用 使用尖端连接组协议的北京先进研究指定扫描仪也将 增强我们使用多模式成像工具来帮助降低生物异质性的能力。一起， 这项研究将提出可行的策略来治疗和预防脑连接体退化，并促进 精神病发作后的临床康复。

Project Summary / Abstract The advent of non-invasive connectivity-oriented neuroimaging methods has shed new light onto the inner workings of the brain. The brain's functional and structural connectome play key roles in regulating the pathways from genes to neural systems to mental illnesses. Along these pathways, we hypothesize that abnormal activity in the innate stress-immune pathways has a major contribution to the brain connectome disruption in early stage of schizophrenia spectrum disorder and to its clinical consequence. The project proposes to extend the Connectome Project in Mental Illness to characterize brain circuitry and its relation to stress-immune axis dysfunction in early stage of schizophrenia spectrum disorder in China. We propose a longitudinal study in a large sample of patients that aims to overcome the heterogeneity in the relationship between mental illness and stress-immune-connectome axis, a well-recognized barrier to advancing research and treatment. We will recruit 500 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders within five years of disease onset. They will be assessed using modern chronic stress and acute psychological stress laboratory paradigms to define the stress biomarkers at baseline. The patients will be compared with 250 age and sex matched healthy controls. The collaboration leverages the clinical stress research expertise by the U.S. partner and the the clinical immunology research expertise in schizophrenia by the Chinese partner. The proposed study also builds on our ongoing work using acute and chronic stress paradigms to understand how stress is linked to brain structural and functional connectome in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. This novel proposition in U.S. and Chinese mental health research field is strongly supported by preliminary data. The ability to apply the cutting edge connectome protocol using the advanced research designated scanner in Beijing will also enhance our ability to use multimodal imaging tools to aid biologically based heterogeneity reduction. Together, this study will generate actionable strategies to treat and prevent brain connectome deterioration and facilitate clinical recovery after psychosis onset.