Abnormal cingulate modulation of fronto-temporal connectivity in schizophrenia

Functional neuroimaging provides a novel means of exploring neurophysiologi cal function in schizophrenia. However, most of the studies that have been carried out report their findings in terms of regionally localized abnormal ities. In this paper we propose an alternative method of data analysis that emphasizes global integration rather than isolated regional changes in res ponse to psychological tasks. In doing so, we suggest that brain abnormalit ies in schizophrenia are best characterized as a disturbance in the integra tion of activity across a number of brain regions. Using a hypothesis-led a nalysis, 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 approac h to the imaging of abnormal brain function in psychopathological condition s. (C) 1999 Academic Press.