PLoS ONE (Jan 2017)

The metabolic basis of cognitive insight in psychosis: A positron emission tomography study.

  • Elisabetta Caletti,
  • Giorgio Marotta,
  • Giuseppe Del Vecchio,
  • Riccardo A Paoli,
  • Michela Cigliobianco,
  • Cecilia Prunas,
  • Elisa Zugno,
  • Francesca Bottinelli,
  • Paolo Brambilla,
  • A Carlo Altamura

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175803
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 4
p. e0175803

Abstract

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive insight and cerebral metabolism in patients suffering from psychosis. The Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS) was administered to 63 patients with psychosis undergoing Positron Emission Tomography investigation. The sample was divided into two groups considering the BCIS score. Data were analyzed using Statistical Parametric Mapping. RESULTS:patients with low insight, compared to those with high insight, showed decreased metabolism in the right fusiform gyrus, left precuneus, superior temporal gyrus and insula bilaterally, as well as increased metabolism in the left orbito-frontal gyrus (all p<0.005). Our results suggest that reduced posterior (occipito-temporo-insulo-parietal) and increased anterior (orbitofrontal) cerebral metabolism may sustain low cognitive insight in psychosis.