Cognitive Pragmatic Rehabilitation Program in Schizophrenia: A Single Case fMRI Study

Introduction. The present study was intended to evaluate the effects of a rehabilitative training, the Cognitive Pragmatic Treatment (CPT), aimed at improving communicative-pragmatic abilities and the related cognitive components, on the cerebral modifications of a single case patient diagnosed with schizophrenia. Methods. The patient underwent two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) sessions, before and after the treatment. In order to assess brain changes, we calculated the Amplitude of Low Frequency Fluctuation (ALFF) index of the resting-state fMRI signal, which is interpreted as reflecting the intensity of the spontaneous regional activity of the brain. Behavioural measures of the patient’s communicative performance were also gathered before and after training and at follow-up. Results. The patient improved his communicative performance in almost all tests. Posttraining stronger ALFF signal emerged in the superior, inferior, and medial frontal gyri, as well as the superior temporal gyri. Conclusions. Even if based on a single case study, these preliminary results show functional changes at the cerebral level that seem to support the patient’s behavioural improvements.

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Improvement in prefrontal thalamic connectivity during the early course of the illness in recent-onset psychosis: a 12-month longitudinal follow-up resting-state fMRI study

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291720004808 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Daniel Bergé ◽

Tyler A. Lesh ◽

Jason Smucny ◽

Cameron S. Carter

Keyword(s):

Resting State ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Functional Changes ◽

Recent Onset ◽

Fmri Study ◽

Clinical Meaning ◽

Mixed Pattern ◽

The Right ◽

Over Time

Abstract Background Previous research in resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) has shown a mixed pattern of disrupted thalamocortical connectivity in psychosis. The clinical meaning of these findings and their stability over time remains unclear. We aimed to study thalamocortical connectivity longitudinally over a 1-year period in participants with recent-onset psychosis. Methods To this purpose, 129 individuals with recent-onset psychosis and 87 controls were clinically evaluated and scanned using rs-fMRI. Among them, 43 patients and 40 controls were re-scanned and re-evaluated 12 months later. Functional connectivity between the thalamus and the rest of the brain was calculated using a seed to voxel approach, and then compared between groups and correlated with clinical features cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Results At baseline, participants with recent-onset psychosis showed increased connectivity (compared to controls) between the thalamus and somatosensory and temporal regions (k = 653, T = 5.712), as well as decreased connectivity between the thalamus and left cerebellum and right prefrontal cortex (PFC; k = 201, T = −4.700). Longitudinal analyses revealed increased connectivity over time in recent-onset psychosis (relative to controls) in the right middle frontal gyrus. Conclusions Our results support the concept of abnormal thalamic connectivity as a core feature in psychosis. In agreement with a non-degenerative model of illness in which functional changes occur early in development and do not deteriorate over time, no evidence of progressive deterioration of connectivity during early psychosis was observed. Indeed, regionally increased connectivity between thalamus and PFC was observed.

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Functional abnormalities in Broca’s area in adolescents with ADHD: A resting-state fMRI study

Poznan Studies in Contemporary Linguistics ◽

10.1515/psicl-2015-0006 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 51 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michał Pikusa ◽

Rafał Jończyk

Keyword(s):

Resting State ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Resting State Fmri ◽

Broca’S Area ◽

Broca's Area ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Spontaneous Neural Activity ◽

Fmri Study ◽

Brodmann Areas ◽

Underlying Causes

AbstractThere is evidence that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with linguistic difficulties. However, the pathophysiology underlying these difficulties is yet to be determined. This study investigates functional abnormalities in Broca’s area, which is associated with speech production and processing, in adolescents with ADHD by means of resting-state fMRI. Data for the study was taken from the ADHD-200 project and included 267 ADHD patients (109 with combined inattentive/hyperactive subtype and 158 with inattentive subtype) and 478 typically-developing control (TDC) subjects. An analysis of fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), which reflects spontaneous neural activity, in Broca’s area (Brodmann Areas 44/45) was performed on the data and the results were compared statistically across the participant groups. fALFF was found to be significantly lower in the ADHD inattentive group as compared to TDC in BA 44, and in the ADHD combined group as compared to TDC in BA 45. The results suggest that there are functional abnormalities in Broca’s area with people suffering from ADHD, and that the localization of these abnormalities might be connected to particular language deficits associated with ADHD subtypes, which we discuss in the article. The findings might help explore the underlying causes of specific language difficulties in ADHD.

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