The Relationship between the Functional State of the Brain and Clinical and Constitutional Factors in Schizophrenia

Objective. To identify the relationship between functional changes in the brain in patients with schizophrenia and the clinical manifestations of the disease and their constitutional and morphological features. Materials and methods. A total of 118 patients with schizophrenia (64 men and 54 women) aged 33 [29; 40] years were examined. The following clinical and dynamic parameters were used: age of disease onset, disease duration, and severity of clinical and psychopathological symptoms on the PANSS. Anthropometric examination of patients was performed by the Bunak method modified by Chtetsov for adult samples, with calculation of the Rees–Eysenck and Tanner indexes. EEG traces were recorded and analyzed in a state of quiet, relaxed wakefulness with the eyes closed, with calculation of absolute spectral power for the θ (4–7 Hz), α (8–13 Hz), and β (14–30 Hz) rhythms. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) direct correlations were found between the age of disease onset and the spectral power of the β rhythm in the frontal leads (Fp1, Fp2, F3, and F4). Inverse correlations (p < 0.05) were found between disease duration in schizophrenia patients and the spectral power of the α rhythm in the left temporal (T3) and right central (C4) leads, the β rhythm in the parieto-occipital (P3, P4, O1, O2) and temporal (T3, T4, T5) leads, and the θ rhythm in the left occipital (O1) and posterior temporal (T5) leads. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) inverse correlations were also found between the Tanner index and the spectral power of the α rhythm in the frontal and temporal leads, as well as between the Rees–Eysenck index and the spectral power of the θ rhythm in the frontal leads. Conclusions. The data obtained here indicate that there are correlations between functional changes in the brain in schizophrenia patients and the clinical manifestations of the disease and their constitutional and morphological features. Thus, assessment of the functional state of the central nervous system in patients with schizophrenia is an important component of the diagnostic search.