Name Bram B. Zandbelt
Department of Psychiatry
Section Brain changes in development disorders
Function PhD-student
E-mail:
b.b.zandbelt@umcutrecht.nl Tel +31 88 755 7121
Supervisors M. Vink, R.S. Kahn
Title research Tracing the origin of psychosis in schizophrenia – a repetitive TMS/neuroimaging study of frontostriatal interaction
Summary research Schizophrenia is characterized by positive symptoms (i.e. psychotic episodes, characterized by delusions and hallucinations) and negative symptoms (i.e. decline in cognitive and social functioning and emotional blunting). Positive symptoms are associated with abnormal function of the striatum, whereas negative symptoms have been related to dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex. It has been hypothesized that the deficits underlying positive and negative symptoms are linked, in that prefrontal regulation of the striatum fails, giving rise to psychosis and related symptoms. Although supported by several findings, direct evidence from human studies for this hypothesis is still lacking. The objective of this study is to directly test, in humans, the hypothesis that reduced prefrontral control leads to dysregulation of the striatum. Using neuroimaging techniques and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation we will localize prefrontal regions that are involved in controlling activity in the striatum. The effects of frontal suppression on striatal activation will then be investigated in healthy siblings of schizophrenia patients and healthy control subjects.
Publications B.B. Zandbelt, T.E. Gladwin, M. Raemaekers, M. van Buuren, S.F. Neggers, R.S. Kahn, N.F. Ramsey, M. Vink. Within-subject variation in BOLD-fMRI signal changes across repeated measurements: Quantification and implications for sample size. Neuroimage [IN PRESS]. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.04.183
M. Raemaekers, M.Vink, B. Zandbelt, R.J.A. van Wezel, R.S. Kahn, N.F. Ramsey. Test–retest reliability of fMRI activation during prosaccades and antisaccades. Neuroimage 36 (2007) 532 – 542. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2007.03.061