Overactivation of Fear Systems to Neutral Faces in Schizophrenia

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.12.014

Biological Psychiatry

Volume 64, Issue 1, 1 July 2008, Pages 70-73

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.12.014 Get rights and content

Background

The amygdala plays a central role in detecting and responding to fear-related stimuli. A number of recent studies have reported decreased amygdala activation in schizophrenia to emotional stimuli (such as fearful faces) compared with matched neutral stimuli (such as neutral faces). We investigated whether the apparent decrease in amygdala activation in schizophrenia could actually derive from increased amygdala activation to the neutral comparator stimuli.

Methods

Nineteen patients with schizophrenia and 24 matched control participants viewed pictures of faces with either fearful or neutral facial expressions, and a baseline condition, during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning.

Results

Patients with schizophrenia showed a relative decrease in amygdala activation to fearful faces compared with neutral faces. However, this difference resulted from an increase in amygdala activation to the neutral faces in patients with schizophrenia, not from a decreased response to the fearful faces.

Conclusions

Patients with schizophrenia show an increased response of the amygdala to neutral faces. This is sufficient to explain their apparent deficit in amygdala activation to fearful faces compared with neutral faces. The inappropriate activation of neural systems involved in fear to otherwise neutral stimuli may contribute to the development of psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia.

Section snippets

Participants

Twenty-four patients meeting DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia and 24 matched control subjects participated in the study. One patient was excluded because of the presence of a benign cerebral cyst, and four were excluded because of failure to make behavioral responses. Full details of subject recruitment and characteristics are given in Supplement 1.

Experimental Design

A block design was used with three conditions: fear, neutral, and baseline. During fear blocks, six faces expressing the emotion of fear

Demographics and Behavioral Responses in the Scanner

There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of age [F(1,41) = .9, p > .3], NART IQ [F(1,41) = 1.3, p > .2] or gender (Fisher's Exact Test, p = 1.0). Both groups performed the incidental gender discrimination task to high degree of accuracy (patients 91% correct [SD 13%], control subjects 98% correct [SD 3%]), although the schizophrenia group did show a deficit in accuracy of gender judgments compared with control subjects [F(1,41) = 6.4, p < .05].

Response to Fearful Faces Versus Neutral Faces

Patients with

Discussion

A number of neuroimaging studies have reported decreased activation of the amygdala to emotional stimuli compared with neutral stimuli in schizophrenia (3). We have investigated this effect by examining amygdala response to fearful and neutral faces in patients with schizophrenia and control subjects. We found that although patients did not differ significantly from control subjects in their amygdala response to fearful faces, they showed increased activation of the amygdala to neutral faces.

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Brief ReportOveractivation of Fear Systems to Neutral Faces in Schizophrenia

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Participants

Experimental Design

Demographics and Behavioral Responses in the Scanner

Response to Fearful Faces Versus Neutral Faces

Discussion

Neuron

Neuron

Prog Neurobiol

Schizophr Res

Psychiatry Res

Psychiatry Res Neuroimag

Schizophr Res

NeuroImage

Psychiatry Res Neuroimag

Biol Psychiatry

Brief Report
Overactivation of Fear Systems to Neutral Faces in Schizophrenia