Differential connectivity between core hubs underlying demanding executive functions in schizophrenia compared to autism and control adults.

Introduction: Schizophrenia (SCZ) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders with similar impairments in several neuropsychological domains, namely in executive function, hampering their differential diagnosis. We asked if brain activation and connectivity patterns within central nodes of the frontoparietal network (FPN), critical for executive control, are distinctively altered in these clinical populations during a working-memory task ( Methods: Forty-five male adults (15 SCZ,15 ASD,15 controls) matched for age, education level, and handedness, underwent 3T brain fMRI during a Results: No significant differences were observed between SCZ and ASD. In contrast, we found significant connectivity differences which were higher for the SCZ group, particularly between the DLPFC-IPS and insula-IPS. Differences between SCZ and ASD dominated in the left hemisphere. Discussion: The distinct cortical activation and connectivity patterns in SCZ (increased connectivity within FPN and FPN-SN), as compared to ASD and controls, are consistent with a fundamental change in executive function in psychosis.