Resting-state Functional Connectivity within Frontoparietal Network in Schizophrenia Patients and Healthy Individuals with Better and Worse Executive Functions

Introduction Patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SP) demonstrate heterogeneity in executive functions (EF) associated with the quality of outcome. However, neurobiological mechanisms of this heterogeneity are understudied. Objectives We aimed to identify features of resting-state functional connectivity (FC) within the frontoparietal network (FPN) that discriminate between SP and healthy individuals (HI) with better and worse EF. Methods Twenty-five SP (mean age 20.8±3.23, illness duration 1.3±2.1 years, all males) and twenty-six HI (mean age 25.17±3.46, all males) underwent EF assessment (4 verbal fluency tests and a modified Stroop task) as well as resting-state fMRI (3T). Results We used k-means clustering based on EF scores to divide all participants into groups with worse (15 SP, 6 HI) and better EF (10 SP, 20 HI). These groups differed in productivity of all verbal fluency tasks and performance time of the Stroop task. Differences between four subgroups (HI/SP with worse/better EF) were revealed in FC between the cingulate and lateral prefrontal cortex in the left hemisphere (ANCOVA, p-uncorrected