Scientists at McGill University, the McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, the University of Montreal, and affiliated institutions have identified weaker beta-band brain activity in people with schizophrenia that correlates with multiple distinct symptoms of the disorder.
The research, published in Science Advances, examined 25 people with schizophrenia and 25 healthy controls using high-resolution magnetoencephalography (MEG) at the McConnell Brain Imaging Centre. Participants completed tasks measuring their ability to judge the timing of visual and auditory information. Researchers also analyzed speech patterns for signs of disorganized thinking.
People with schizophrenia showed weaker and slower beta-band activity, a rhythmic pattern of electrical brain activity involved in coordinating information processing, perception, and movement. Those with the most pronounced abnormalities in this signal also showed greater difficulty processing timing of sights and sounds, more disorganized speech, and more severe clinical symptoms.
"What struck us was that the same weakened brain signal kept showing up wherever we looked, whether patients were processing a sound, a sight or completing a movement," said Hsi (Tiana) Wei, lead author and postdoctoral scholar at McGill's Department of Psychiatry.
Dr. Lena Palaniyappan, senior author and Professor of Psychiatry at McGill, said the findings could eventually help identify young people at greater risk of developing psychosis. He noted that schizophrenia symptoms often first appear during adolescence but may go unrecognized for extended periods.
The researchers emphasized that results are preliminary. The study included only 50 participants, and larger independent samples must confirm the associations with speech disturbances and symptom severity before confidence in the findings grows.