Functional brain networks in treatment-resistant schizophrenia

Abstract

Introduction Up to 20% of individuals with schizophrenia show minimal or no response to medication and are considered to have ‘treatment-resistant’ schizophrenia (TRS). Unlike early and established schizophrenia, few studies have investigated resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) in TRS. Here, we test for disruptions in FC and altered efficiency of functional brain networks in a well-characterized cohort of TRS patients. Methods Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to investigate functional brain networks in 42 TRS participants prescribed clozapine (30 males, mean age = 41.3(10)) and 42 healthy controls (24 males, mean age = 38.4(10)). Graph analysis was used ..