Journal article
Intrinsic connectivity patterns of striatal subfields predict individual dimensions of psychopathology and are associated with cholinergic and serotonergic neurotransmission in schizophrenia
Neuropsychopharmacology (New York, N.Y.), PMID 8904907
01/17/2026
DOI: 10.1038/s41386-026-02354-w
PMID: 41548024
Abstract
Symptoms of schizophrenia may reflect different pathophysiological processes in the striatum, but the links between striatal subfield connectivity, symptom dimensions, and molecular architectures remain unclear. Using connectivity profiles from 12 striatal subfields to predict negative, positive, affective, and cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia, we identified consistent connectivity features through cross-validations and validated with leave-one-site-out analysis and an independent dataset. Feature importance scores for brain parcels linked through consistent connectivity features that predicted symptoms were spatially correlated with density maps of 19 receptors/transporters from prior molecular imaging in healthy populations using partial least squares. We found that the connectivity profiles of the rostral and ventral striatal subfields significantly predicted affective and cognitive symptoms, respectively, and these predictions were generalized to the independent sample. Feature importance scores for brain parcels connected to the ventral striatum (predicting cognitive symptoms) were spatially correlated with density maps of both the vesicular acetylcholine transporter and the serotonin 1 A receptor. By contrast, importance scores for parcels linked to rostral striatal connectivity (predicting affective symptoms) were specifically associated with the spatial distribution of the serotonin 1 A receptor. Here, we show specific striatal connectivity patterns related to symptom dimensions and indicate multiple neurotransmitter systems to underlie the reward-related disturbances in schizophrenia.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Intrinsic connectivity patterns of striatal subfields predict individual dimensions of psychopathology and are associated with cholinergic and serotonergic neurotransmission in schizophrenia
- Creators
- Zhiqiu He - Zhejiang International Studies UniversityWenli He - Zhejiang UniversityZhiyi Chen - Army Medical UniversityWei Wei - Hangzhou Seventh Peoples HospitalXiaojin Liu - Beijing Normal UniversityJuergen Dukart - Heinrich Heine University DüsseldorfWeidong Li - Shanghai Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired TechnologyJustin T Baker - Harvard Medical SchoolAvram J Holmes - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyFelix Hoffstaedter - Heinrich Heine University DüsseldorfThomas Nickl-Jockschat - Otto-von-Guericke University MagdeburgBirgit Derntl - University of TübingenLydia Kogler - University of TübingenRenaud Jardri - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de LilleOliver Gruber - Heidelberg UniversityAndré Aleman - University Medical Center GroningenIris E Sommer - University Medical Center GroningenKaustubh R Patil - Heinrich Heine University DüsseldorfYunrong Lu - Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang UniversitySimon B Eickhoff - Heinrich Heine University DüsseldorfJi Chen - Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Neuropsychopharmacology (New York, N.Y.), PMID 8904907
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41386-026-02354-w
- PMID
- 41548024
- NLM abbreviation
- Neuropsychopharmacology
- ISSN
- 0893-133X
- eISSN
- 1740-634X
- Publisher
- Nature
- Grant note
- 82201658 / National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 82371506 / National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China)
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 01/17/2026
- Academic Unit
- Psychiatry; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9985130061402771
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