Impaired cortico-limbic functional connectivity in schizophrenia patients during emotion processing

Abstract Functional dysconnection is increasingly recognized as a core pathological feature in schizophrenia. Aberrant interactions between regions of the cortico-limbic circuit may underpin the abnormal emotional processing associated with this illness. We used a functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm designed to dissociate the various components of the cortico-limbic circuit (i.e. a ventral automatic circuit that is intertwined with a dorsal cognitive circuit), to explore bottom-up appraisal as well as top-down control during emotion processing. In schizophrenia patients compared with healthy controls, bottom-up processes were associated with reduced interaction between the amygdala and both the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Contrariwise, top-down control processes led to stronger connectivity between the ventral affective and the dorsal cognitive circuits, i.e. heightened interactions between the ventral ACC and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as well as between dorsal and ventral ACC. These findings offer a comprehensive view of the cortico-limbic dysfunction in schizophrenia. They confirm previous results of impaired propagation of information between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex and suggest a defective functional segregation in the dorsal cognitive part of the cortico-limbic circuit.