Central- and autonomic nervous system coupling in schizophrenia.

ABSTRACT: The autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction has been well described in schizophrenia (SZ), a severe mental disorder. Nevertheless, the coupling between the ANS and central brain activity has been not addressed until now in SZ. The interactions between the central nervous system (CNS) and ANS need to be considered as a feedback-feed-forward system that supports flexible and adaptive responses to specific demands. For the first time, to the best of our knowledge, this study investigates central-autonomic couplings (CAC) studying heart rate, blood pressure and electroencephalogram in paranoid schizophrenic patients, comparing them with age-gender-matched healthy subjects (CO). The emphasis is to determine how these couplings are composed by the different regulatory aspects of the CNS-ANS.

SUBMITTER: Schulz S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4822441 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature