Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Joachim Gross
Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom; Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany
Jozien Goense
Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Department of Clinical Psychology, University Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Frauke Schultze-Lutter
University Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany
Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience and Centre for Neural Computation, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Dagmar Koethe
Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Central Institute of Mental health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Central Institute of Mental health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
Department of Neurophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience and the Max Planck Society, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
We examined alterations in E/I-balance in schizophrenia (ScZ) through measurements of resting-state gamma-band activity in participants meeting clinical high-risk (CHR) criteria (n = 88), 21 first episode (FEP) patients and 34 chronic ScZ-patients. Furthermore, MRS-data were obtained in CHR-participants and matched controls. Magnetoencephalographic (MEG) resting-state activity was examined at source level and MEG-data were correlated with neuropsychological scores and clinical symptoms. CHR-participants were characterized by increased 64–90 Hz power. In contrast, FEP- and ScZ-patients showed aberrant spectral power at both low- and high gamma-band frequencies. MRS-data showed a shift in E/I-balance toward increased excitation in CHR-participants, which correlated with increased occipital gamma-band power. Finally, neuropsychological deficits and clinical symptoms in FEP and ScZ-patients were correlated with reduced gamma band-activity, while elevated psychotic symptoms in the CHR group showed the opposite relationship. The current study suggests that resting-state gamma-band power and altered Glx/GABA ratio indicate changes in E/I-balance parameters across illness stages in ScZ.
