The following is a summary of “Structural-functional connectivity deficits of callosal-white matter-cortical circuits in schizophrenia,” published in the October 2023 issue of Psychiatry by Wang et al. 

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Researchers performed a retrospective study to identify 9 white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) functional networks and parcellate the corpus callosum into distinct sub-regions through a data-driven method.

The study estimated structural and functional connectivity changes within callosal-white matter-cortical circuits in schizophrenia patients using functional connectivity and fiber tracking analysis. They found that schizophrenia patients exhibited increased structural and functional connectivity between the corpus callosum, WM, and GM networks associated with specific functions, including the visual network (visual processing), executive control network (executive controls), ventral attention network (processing of salience), and limbic network (emotion processing), compared to healthy controls. 

The study identified 9 abnormal pathways within callosal-white matter-cortical circuits that connect the mentioned networks and the default mode network (self-related thought). These findings underscored the significance of connectivity disruptions within callosal-white matter-cortical circuits in comprehending the origins of delusions, hallucinations, and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia patients.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165178123005097