Neuroanatomical and transcriptomic correlates of attention in schizophrenia

Cognitive impairment, characterized by impaired attention function, is widely recognized as one of the core symptoms of schizophrenia, significantly impacting the quality of life for individuals with this disorder. The objective of this cross-sectional study is to investigate the characteristics of attentional behavior and related brain structure and gene expression of schizophrenia, aiming to provide new trans-scale evidence. A total of 137 participants were enrolled in this study, including 65 patients with schizophrenia and 72 healthy controls. All participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging scans and completed cognitive tests. The results revealed that patients required more time (all p < 0.05) to complete key responses in attention-related tasks compared to the control group. Moreover, significant structural brain alterations were observed in patients with schizophrenia, including enlarged bilateral pallidum, smaller right hippocampus, and reduced cortical thickness in relevant brain regions (all p < 0.05). Further analysis demonstrated a correlation between alertness during Attention Network Test performance and pallidum volume among patients ( r = 0.42, p = 4.30 × 10 −4 ), and this correlation was associated with a specific pattern of gene expression in the patients' brain but not observed among controls. Our study reveals that decreased attentional ability in schizophrenia is accompanied by abnormal changes in pallidum along with specific transcriptional profile among patients with schizophrenia; these findings hold clinical significance for precise diagnosis and treatment strategies targeting schizophrenia.