Pathophysiologische Veränderungen spezifischer neurofunktioneller Systeme bei Schizophrenie
Pathophysiological Alterations of Specific Neurofunctional Systems in Schizophrenia
by Aleksandra Dechent née Petrovic
Date of Examination:2021-04-08
Date of issue:2021-04-06
Advisor:Prof. Dr. Oliver Gruber
Referee:Prof. Dr. Oliver Gruber
Referee:Prof. Dr. Melanie Wilke
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Abstract
English
Schizophrenia is a frequent psychiatric disease with a heterogeneous clinical appearance involving a dysfunction of reward processing. In the present work schizophrenic patients and matched control subjectcs were investigated with functional magnetic resonance imaging while executing an established behavioural paradigm activating the dopaminergic reward system. This paradigm creates a dilemma situation, where a previously conditioned reward stimulus has to be rejected in order to achieve a long-term goal. It thus allows to investigate reward-related brain activation changes depending on the interaction of bottom-up and top-down processes. In the dilemma situation patients showed an increased bottom-up activation of the reward system and a reduced top-down impulse control compared to healthy control subjects. The present work identified neurofunctional alterations in schizophrenic patients and extends the knowledge regarding affected brain areas and their dysfunctions in schizophrenia.
Keywords: Schizophrenia; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Dilemma Situation; Reward System