Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39901867›Full record

ArticlePsychological medicine2025

Brain-body dysconnectivity: deficient autonomic regulation of cortical function in first-episode schizophrenia.

Kaia Sargent, Emily Martinez, Alexandra Reed, Anika Guha, Morgan Bartholomew, Caroline Diehl, Christine Chang, Sarah Salama, Kenneth Subotnik, Joseph Ventura and 3 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Psychological medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
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  3. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Kaia SargentDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4731-2776
Emily MartinezDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Alexandra ReedDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Anika GuhaDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Morgan BartholomewDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Caroline DiehlDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Christine ChangDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Sarah SalamaDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Kenneth SubotnikDepartment of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Joseph VenturaDepartment of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Keith NuechterleinDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Gregory MillerDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Cindy YeeDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Funding

Enhancing Cognitive Training Through Exercise Following a First Schizophrenia EpisodeR01MH110544 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI NUECHTERLEIN, KEITH H · 2016 to 2022
$7.3M
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program DGE-2034835NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH110544
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAn accumulating body of evidence indicates that peripheral physiological rhythms help regulate and organize large-scale brain activity. Given that schizophrenia (SZ) is characterized by marked abnormalities in oscillatory cortical activity as well as changes in autonomic function, the present study aimed to identify mechanisms by which central and autonomic nervous system deficits may be related. We evaluated phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) as a physiological mechanism through which autonomic nervous system (ANS) and central nervous system (CNS) activity are integrated and that may be disrupted in SZ.

methodsPAC was measured between high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) as an index of parasympathetic activity and electroencephalography (EEG) oscillations in 36 individuals with first-episode SZ and 38 healthy comparison participants at rest.

resultsHRV-EEG coupling was lower in SZ in the alpha and theta bands, and HRV-EEG coupling uniquely predicted group membership, whereas HRV and EEG power alone did not. HRV-EEG coupling in the alpha band correlated with measures of sustained attention in SZ. Granger causality analyses indicated a stronger heart-to-brain effect than brain-to-heart effect, consistent across groups.

conclusionsLower HRV-EEG coupling provides evidence of deficient autonomic regulation of cortical activity in SZ, suggesting that patterns of dysconnectivity observed in brain networks extend to brain-body interactions. Deficient ANS-CNS integration in SZ may foster a breakdown in the spatiotemporal organization of cortical activity, which may contribute to core cognitive impairments in SZ such as dysregulated attention. These findings encourage pursuit of therapies targeting autonomic function for the treatment of SZ.

Indexed as

Autonomic Nervous SystemBrainCerebral CortexHeart RateSchizophreniaAdultElectroencephalographyFemaleHumansMaleYoung Adultautonomic functioncognitionheart rate variabilityneural oscillationsoscillatory couplingschizophrenia

Identifiers

PMID39901867
PMCPMC11964094

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.