Assessment of connectivity disurbances in schizophrenia using TMS-EEG

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K07587
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 52030:Psychiatry-related
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: IDE Masayuki 筑波大学, 医学医療系, 講師 (10741390)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 川崎 真弘 筑波大学, システム情報系, 准教授 (40513370)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 統合失調症 / うつ病 / TMS / Phase locking value / 同期性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To assess inter-neuronal connectivity of schizophrenia, we measured phase-locking value (PLV) of trans-magnetic stimulation evoked electroencephalogram (TMS-EEG) which represents synchronization of signals, comparing schizophrenia patient, depressive patient and healthy control groups. The previous study showed improvement of PLV along with the recovery of depressive state by electroconvulsive therapy, suggesting PLV could be a potential biomarker of mental state. However, the present study showed no significant PLV difference among the three groups. Other than the shortage of the subject number due to the restricted hospital visit by COVID-19, lack of regulation on measurement conditions, such as sleep hours and fatigue, could be the confounding factors for the present study.

Free Research Field

神経生理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

統合失調症などの精神疾患では信頼性の高い生物学的指標が求められている。我々の先行研究から、視覚野と運動野間の経頭蓋磁気刺激誘発脳波（TMS-EEG）の指標であるPhase locking value（PLV）が精神状態の指標となる可能性が示唆されていた。しかし、本研究では統合失調症患者、うつ病患者、健常者の３群でPLVに有意な差は認めなかった。
本研究の結果から精神疾患の状態評価にPLVを用いるためには、測定条件の慎重な調整や他のパラメータとの組み合わせが必要であることが示唆された。