Long-Biao Cui1, Baojuan Li2, Yi-Bin Xi1, and Hong Yin1
1Xijing Hospital, Fourth Mililtary Medical University, Xi'an, China, People's Republic of, 2School of Biomedical Engineering, Fourth Mililtary Medical University, Xi'an, China, People's Republic of
We found hyperconnectivity from the
thalamus to auditory cortex and hypoconnectivity from the auditory cortex to
the hippocampus in AVHs. The thalamic-auditory cortical-hippocampal circuit
seems to be crucial for AVHs in SZ. In SZ patients with AVHs,
there is a failure to attenuate the sensitivity of auditory cortex to thalamic
inputs with a complementary down-regulation of hippocampal responses to
ascending auditory input. These findings are consistent with current thinking
about dysconnection syndromes in SZ; particularly the aberrant modulation of
neuromodulatory gain control and its role assigning aberrant precision or
salience to sensory evidence in conditions like SZ. Our findings might provide support
for dysconnectivity hypothesis of AVHs associated with auditory/language-processing
regions, default mode regions, and other networks (insula and striatum), as
reviewed most recently. Dysconnectivity of this
circuit may also serve as a potential diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic
target of AVHs in SZ based on the direct evidence in vivo we found.
