Hormonal Cycles, Brain Network Connectivity, and Windows of Vulnerability to Affective Disorder

Abstract Childhood trauma is a central risk factor for schizophrenia. We explored the correlation between early traumatic experiences and the functional connectivity of resting-state networks. This fMRI study included 28 first-episode schizophrenia patients and 27 healthy controls. In first-episode schizophrenia patients, higher levels of childhood trauma associated with abnormal connections of resting-state networks, and these anomalies distributed among task-positive networks (i.e., ventral attention network, dorsal-ventral attention network and frontal-parietal network), and sensory networks (i.e., visual network and auditory network). These findings mentioned that childhood traumatic experiences may impact resting-state network connectivity in adulthood, mainly involving systems related to attention and execution control.

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Brain Network Connectivity Dynamics during Voluntary Finger Movement in Right Handed Adults with Down Syndrome: Evidence for Contralateral and Ipsilateral Dominance

IFMBE Proceedings - 17th International Conference on Biomagnetism Advances in Biomagnetism – Biomag2010 ◽

10.1007/978-3-642-12197-5_93 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 393-396

Author(s):

N. Moiseeva ◽

A. Moiseev ◽

I. Lott ◽

R. Haier ◽

K. Head ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Down Syndrome ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

Brain Network ◽

Finger Movement ◽

Brain Network Connectivity

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Reduced DNA Methylation of the Oxytocin Receptor Gene Is Associated With Anhedonia-Asociality in Women With Recent-Onset Schizophrenia and Ultra-high Risk for Psychosis

Schizophrenia Bulletin ◽

10.1093/schbul/sbz016 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 45 (6) ◽

pp. 1279-1290 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Minji Bang ◽

Jee In Kang ◽

Se Joo Kim ◽

Jin Young Park ◽

Kyung Ran Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Symptoms ◽

Receptor Gene ◽

Network Connectivity ◽

Inverse Correlation ◽

Brain Network ◽

Oxytocin Receptor ◽

Epigenetic Alterations ◽

Oxytocin Receptor Gene ◽

Recent Onset ◽

Brain Network Connectivity

Abstract Negative symptoms are recognized as a fundamental feature of schizophrenia throughout the disease course. Epigenetic alterations in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) may be a key mechanism involved in social-emotional disturbances of schizophrenia. Here, we investigated OXTR methylation and its association with clinical and brain network connectivity phenotypes of negative symptoms, particularly anhedonia-asociality, in individuals with recent-onset schizophrenia (ROS) and at ultrahigh risk (UHR) for psychosis. Sixty-four ROS (39 women), 46 UHR (19 women), and 98 healthy individuals (52 women) participated in this study. OXTR methylation was quantified using the pyrosequencing method. A subset of participants (16 ROS, 23 UHR, and 33 healthy controls [HCs]) underwent a 5.5-minute resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to determine the relationship between OXTR methylation and the striatal-amygdala network functional connectivity (FC) underlying anhedonia-asociality. Both men and women with ROS and UHR showed significantly decreased OXTR methylation compared to HCs. In women with ROS and UHR, decreased OXTR methylation showed a significant correlation with increased anhedonia-asociality. FC of the striatal-amygdala network, positively associated with the severity of anhedonia-asociality, showed an inverse correlation with OXTR methylation. This study suggests that epigenetic alterations of OXTR, which can be detected before the development of full-blown psychosis, confer susceptibility to schizophrenia and play a crucial role in the manifestation of anhedonia-asociality, particularly in women.

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