Increased resting-state interhemispheric functional connectivity of striatum in first-episode drug-naive adolescent-onset schizophrenia

Background: Compared to adult-onset schizophrenia, relatively few neuroimaging studies have examined func-tional connectivity (FC) abnormalities in adolescent-onset schizophrenia (AOS). The present study was designed to investigate resting-state interhemispheric connectivity patterns among drug-naive first-episode AOS patients and potential changes following short-term antipsychotic drug treatment. Methods: This study included 107 drug-naive, first-episode AOS patients (age: 15.33 +/- 1.62, 45 males) and 67 matched healthy controls (age: 15.43 +/- 1.86, 30 males). All participants underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans, and 34 AOS patients (age: 15.12 +/- 1.68, 12 males) also underwent a follow-up scan after 8 weeks of antipsychotic drug treatment. Interhemispheric functional connectivity was measured by voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC). Results: Compared to healthy controls, AOS patients showed increased VMHC values in putamen and caudate. No significant differences were observed between the patients at baseline and after 8 weeks of treatment. Conclusions: First-episode, drug-naive AOS patients demonstrate abnormalities in interhemispheric FC, and these are not mitigated by short-term antipsychotic treatment.