Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society

Table of Contents - 01 November 2009 - Volume 15, Issue 06  

Research Articles

Evaluative processing of ambivalent stimuli in patients with schizophrenia and depression: A [15O] H2O PET study

JAE-JIN KIMa1a2a3, HAE-JEONG PARKa1a2a3, YOUNG-CHUL JUNGa1a2 c1, JI WON CHUNa1, HYE SUN KIMa1, JEONG HO SEOKa4, NAM WOOK KIMa2, IL HO PARKa5, MAENG-GUN OHa3 and JONG DOO LEEa3

a1 Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Gwangju Gyeonggi, Korea

a2 Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

a3 Department of Radiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

a4 Department of Psychiatry, Hallym University College of Medicine, Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang, Korea

a5 Department of Psychiatry, Kwandong University College of Medicine, Myong-Ji Hospital, Koyang, Korea

Abstract

Decision making in an emotionally conflicting situation is important in social life. We aimed to address the similarity and disparity of neural correlates involved in processing ambivalent stimuli in patients with schizophrenia and patients with depression. Behavioral task-related hemodynamic responses were measured using [15O]H2O positron emission tomography (PET) in 12 patients with schizophrenia and 12 patients with depression. The task was a modified word-stem completion task, which was designed to evoke ambivalence in forced and non-forced choice conditions. The prefrontal cortex and the cerebellum were found to show increased activity in the healthy control group. In the schizophrenia group, activity in these two regions was negligible. In the depression group, the pattern of activity was altered and a functional compensatory recruitment of the inferior parietal regions was suggested. The prefrontal cortex seems to be associated with the cognitive control to resolve the conflict toward the ambivalent stimuli, whereas the cerebellum reflects the sustained working memory to search for compromise alternatives. The deficit of cerebellar activation in the schizophrenia group might underlie the inability to search and consider compromising responses for conflict resolution. (JINS, 2009, 15, 990–1001.)

(Received November 11 2008)

(Reviewed June 12 2009)

(Accepted June 15 2009)

Keywords

Correspondence:

c1 Correspondence and reprint requests to: Young-Chul Jung, Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Severance Mental Health Hospital, 696-6 Tanbul-dong, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea 464-100. E-mail: eugenejung@yuhs.ac

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