Disrupted controlling mechanism of salience network on default-mode network and central-executive network in schizophrenia

Abstract

Neuroimaging studies suggest that the human brain consists of intrinsically organized large-scale neural networks. Among those networks, the interplay among default-mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and central-executive network (CEN)has been widely employed to understand the functional interaction patterns in health and diseases. This triple network model suggests that SN causally controls DMN and CEN in healthy individuals. This interaction is often referred to as the dynamic controlling mechanism of SN. However, such interactions are not well understood in individuals with schizophrenia. In this study, we leveraged resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data of schizophrenia (n = 67) and healthy controls (n = 81) to evaluate the functional interactions among DMN, SN, and CEN using dynamical causal modeling. In healthy controls, our analyses replicated previous findings that SN regulates DMN and CEN activities (Mann-Whitney U test; p < 10-8). In schizophrenia, however, our analyses revealed the disrupted SN-based controlling mechanism on DMN and CEN (Mann-Whitney U test; p < 10-16). These results indicate that the disrupted controlling mechanism of SN on two other neural networks may be a candidate neuroimaging phenotype in schizophrenia.