Functional Neuroimaging Predictors of Self-Reported Psychotic Symptoms in Adolescents

• DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.16080897
• Publication Date: 2017-03-28T19:27:08Z
• Authors: Josiane Bourque; Philip A. Spechler; Stéphane Potvin; Robert Whelan; Tobias Banaschewski; Arun L.W. Bokde; Uli Bromberg; Christian Büchel; Erin Burke Quinlan; Sylvane Desrivières; Herta Flor; Vincent Frouin; Penny Gowland; Andreas Heinz; Bernd Ittermann; Jean-Luc Martinot; Marie-Laure Paill...; Sarah C. McEwen; Frauke Nees; Dimitri Papadopou...; Tomáš Paus; Luise Poustka; Michael N. Smolka; Nora C. Vetter; Henrik Walter; Gunter Schumann; Hugh Garavan; Patricia J. Conrod
• Keywords: Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Objective: This study investigated the neural correlates of psychotic-like experiences in youths during tasks involving inhibitory control, reward anticipation, and emotion processing. A secondary aim was to test whether these neurofunctional risk were predictive psychotic symptoms 2 years later. Method: Functional imaging responses three paradigms—the stop-signal, monetary incentive delay, faces tasks—were collected at age 14, as part IMAGEN study. At baseline, from London Dublin sites assessed on experiences, those reporting significant compared with matched control subjects. Significant brain activity differences between groups used predict, cross-validation, presence context mood fluctuation 16, full sample. These prediction analyses conducted London-Dublin subsample (N=246) sample (N=1,196). Results: Relative subjects, showed increased hippocampus/amygdala processing neutral reduced dorsolateral prefrontal failed inhibition. The most prominent regional difference for classifying 16-year-olds relative (those fluctuations but no symptoms) hyperactivation hippocampus/amygdala, when controlling baseline cannabis use. Conclusions: results stress importance limbic network's response facial stimuli a marker extended psychosis phenotype. findings might help guide early intervention strategies at-risk youths.