Stronger Top-Down and Weaker Bottom-Up Frontotemporal Connections During Sensory Learning Are Associated With Severity of Psychotic Phenomena
Schizophrenia Bulletin December 7, 2020 Ilvana Dzafic, Kit Melissa Larsen, Hayley Darke et al. 26 citations
People with schizophrenia have reduced neural prediction-error signals (mismatch negativity in stable contexts, P300 in volatile contexts) that are specific to the schizophrenia spectrum, whereas altered brain connectivity—decreased intrinsic connectivity in the left primary auditory cortex and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), reduced bottom-up and increased top-down frontotemporal connectivity—occurs across all participants as psychotic experiences intensify. Impaired sensory learning behavior was linked to lower intrinsic connectivity in the IFG, which also decreased with greater severity of psychotic experiences. The findings suggest that distinct neural mechanisms underlie schizophrenia-specific deficits versus general psychosis-related connectivity changes.