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Effects of olanzapine on cerebellar functional connectivity in schizophrenia measured by fMRI during a simple motor task

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2001

K. E. STEPHAN ,
V. A. MAGNOTTA ,
T. WHITE ,
S. ARNDT ,
M. FLAUM ,
D. S. O'LEARY  and
N. C. ANDREASEN
K. E. STEPHAN
Affiliation:
From the Computational Systems Neuroscience Group, C. & O. Vogt Brain Research Institute, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany; and the Mental Health Clinical Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, IA, USA
V. A. MAGNOTTA
Affiliation:
From the Computational Systems Neuroscience Group, C. & O. Vogt Brain Research Institute, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany; and the Mental Health Clinical Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, IA, USA
T. WHITE
Affiliation:
From the Computational Systems Neuroscience Group, C. & O. Vogt Brain Research Institute, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany; and the Mental Health Clinical Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, IA, USA
S. ARNDT
Affiliation:
From the Computational Systems Neuroscience Group, C. & O. Vogt Brain Research Institute, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany; and the Mental Health Clinical Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, IA, USA
M. FLAUM
Affiliation:
From the Computational Systems Neuroscience Group, C. & O. Vogt Brain Research Institute, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany; and the Mental Health Clinical Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, IA, USA
D. S. O'LEARY
Affiliation:
From the Computational Systems Neuroscience Group, C. & O. Vogt Brain Research Institute, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany; and the Mental Health Clinical Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, IA, USA
N. C. ANDREASEN
Affiliation:
From the Computational Systems Neuroscience Group, C. & O. Vogt Brain Research Institute, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany; and the Mental Health Clinical Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, IA, USA
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Abstract

Background. According to current theories, schizophrenia results from altered connectivity in brain circuits for fundamental cognitive operations. Consequently, the poorly understood mechanisms of neuroleptic treatment may be explainable by altered functional interactions within such networks. The ‘cognitive dysmetria’ model hypothesizes that one key structure in these circuits is the cerebellum. To investigate the effects of olanzapine on cerebellar functional connectivity (CFC), a seed-voxel correlation analysis (SVCA) was used in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of a simple finger-tapping task.

Methods. fMRI scans were obtained from six schizophrenic patients under both drug-free and olanzapine-treated conditions and from a matched control group of six healthy subjects at corresponding time points. SVCAs were performed for anatomically and functionally standardized seed voxels in the anterior cerebellum. SVCA results were then processed by three different randomization analyses.

Results. The analyses revealed that olanzapine caused widespread changes of CFC, including prominent changes in prefrontal cortex and mediodorsal thalamus. Significant changes in motor structures were found after subtractions within both groups and may thus indicate repetition effects rather than drug effects. Olanzapine ‘normalized’ the patients' CFC patterns for the right, but not for the left cerebellum.

Conclusion. Even for a simple motor task, olanzapine affects functional interactions between the cerebellum and many non-motor brain regions, including elements of the ‘cognitive dysmetria’ circuit. Altogether, our findings suggest that olanzapine has a stronger differential effect on neural activity in prefrontal cortex and thalamus than in motor structures.

Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 31 , Issue 6 , August 2001 , pp. 1065 - 1078
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

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