Resting-state brain activity complexity in early-onset schizophrenia characterized by a multi-scale entropy method

Abstract

Early-onset schizophrenia (EOS) is a severe mental illness associated with changes of brain’s activity. However, the complexities of brain activity in EOS are still lacking. To address this issue, a multi-scale sample entropy (MSE) method was used to investigate the role of brain signal complexity in EOS. We recruited 39 patients with EOS (age from 12 to 18), 31 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Reduced blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) complexity was observed in the superior temporal sulcus and cuneus. Increased BOLD complexity was observed in the middle frontal gyrus, superior partial lobule, precuneus and cingulate gyrus. Furthermore, we found the complexity changes in cingulate gyrus were associated with clinical symptoms of schizophrenia. These results suggested that the changes of complexity are crucial to understand the pathomechanism of schizophrenia.