Abnormal cingulate modulation of fronto-temporal connectivity in schizophrenia

Functional neuroimaging provides a novel means of exploring neurophysiological function in schizophrenia. However, most of the studies that have been carried out report their findings in terms of regionally localized abnormalities. In this paper we propose an alternative method of data analysis that emphasizes global integration rather than isolated regional changes in response to psychological tasks. In doing so, we suggest that brain abnormalities in schizophrenia are best characterized as a disturbance in the integration of activity across a number of brain regions. Using a hypothesis-led analysis, we show that the condition is associated with a disruption of the normal anterior cingulate modulation of prefrontotemporal integration. This analytical technique, we suggest, provides a conceptually powerful approach to the imaging of abnormal brain function in psychopathological conditions. (C) 1999 Academic Press.