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S34

24th European Congress of Psychiatry / European Psychiatry 33S (2016) S18–S55

future research to get a better understanding of the heterogeneity

of clinical manifestations in severe mental disorders and to map

clinical symptoms to imaging phenotypes.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their decla-

ration of competing interest.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.864

S49

Fronto-thalamic dysconnectivity and

cognitive control in schizophrenia

G. Wagne

r 1 ,

, F . D

e la Cruz

2 , D.

Güllmar

3 , C.C

. Schultz

2 ,

K. Koch

4 , K.J

. Bär

2

1

Germany

2

Jena University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and

Psychotherapy, Jena, Germany

3

Jena University Hospital, Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional

Radiology I, Jena, Germany

4

Klinikum rechts der Isar, TUM, Department of Neuroradiology,

München, Germany

Corresponding author.

Introduction

Several lines of evidence suggest that cognitive

deficits represent a core feature of schizophrenia.

Objectives

The concept of “cognitive dysmetria” has been

introduced to characterize disintegration at the system level of

frontal-thalamic-cerebellar circuitry which has been regarded as

a key network for a wide range of neuropsychological symptoms

in schizophrenia.

Aims

The present multimodal study aimed at investigating effec-

tive and structural connectivity of the frontal-thalamic circuitry in

schizophrenia.

Methods

Univariate fMRI data analysis and effective connectiv-

ity analysis using dynamic causal modeling (DCM) were combined

to examine cognitive control processes in 40 patients with

schizophrenia and 40 matched healthy controls. BOLD signal and

parameters of effective connectivity were related to parameters

of corresponding white matter integrity assessed with diffusion

tensor imaging (DTI).

Results

In the DTI analysis, significantly decreased fractional

anisotropy (FA) was detected in patients in the right anterior limb

of the internal capsule (ALIC), the right thalamus and the right

corpus callosum. During Stroop task performance patients demon-

strated significantly lower activation relative to healthy controls in

a predominantly right lateralized frontal-thalamic-cerebellar net-

work. An abnormal effective connectivity was observed in the right

lateralized connections between thalamus, anterior cingulate and

dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. FA in the right ALIC was significantly

correlated with the fronto-thalamic BOLD signal, effective connec-

tivity and cognitive performance in patients.

Conclusions

Present data provide evidence for the notion of

a structural and functional defect in the prefrontal-thalamic-

cerebellar circuitry, which seems to be the basis of the cognitive

control deficits in schizophrenia.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their decla-

ration of competing interest.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.865

S50

Motor symptoms and altered

connectivity in schizophrenia

S. Walther

, K. Stegmayer , B. Tobias , A. Federspiel

University Hospital of Psychiatry, Translational Research Center,

Bern, Switzerland

Corresponding author.

Schizophrenia spectrum disorders are frequently associated with

motor abnormalities. Aberrant motor function can be observed in

patients throughout the course of the disorder, in subjects at high

clinical risk and in unaffected first-degree relatives. Schizophrenia

is further characterized by white matter abnormalities in multi-

ple fiber tracts and aberrant resting state cerebral perfusion. In

a series of studies, we investigated the association of objectively

measured motor behavior in terms of activity levels with white

matter microstructure and cerebral perfusion at rest. Patients were

less active than controls at the behavioral level. In the associations

with neuroimaging techniques, we detected that unlike controls,

patients’ activity levels were linked to structure and perfusion

of cortical motor areas as well as the connecting white matter.

In controls instead, motor activity relied on the association of

cortico-subcortical motor loops. Thus, some of the motor signs in

schizophrenia may result from ineffective coupling between cor-

tical and subcortical motor areas. Finally, preliminary data from

functional connectivity analyses support this notion.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their decla-

ration of competing interest.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.866

Lifespan development of schizophrenia and how

the treatments improve outcome

S51

Antipsychotic medication and

outcomes in schizophrenia from a

lifespan perspective

H. Koponen

Helsinki University and Helsinki University Hospital, Department of

Psychiatry, Helsinki, Finland

Introduction

Antipsychotic medications play an important role

in schizophrenia, and their efficacy in the relapse prevention and

treatment of acute psychotic symptoms is clear-cut.

Objectives

Data on the long-term use of antipsychotics and

impact on prognostic issues is limited, although some previous

studies noted a high risk of relapse during the first two years after

the first acute psychosis.

Aims

Our aimwas to study the characteristics and clinical course

of medicated and unmedicated schizophrenia patients.

Methods

The study population consisted of schizophrenia

patients from the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (

n

= 70). Use

of antipsychotics was examined in the follow-up interview by ask-

ing about the subjects’ medication history during the previous

three months. The sample was divided into a non-medicated group

(

n

= 24) and a medicated group (

n

= 46).

Results

Relapses during the follow-up were equally frequent

between non-medicated and medicated subjects (47% vs. 53%). Not

having been hospitalised during previous five years, but not previ-

ous two years, before the interview predicted long-term successful

antipsychotic withdrawal without relapse. Fifteen of the subjects

in the non-medicated group (63%) and 9 in the medicated group

(20%) were in remission.

Conclusions

The present results imply that there are some indi-

viduals with schizophrenic psychoses not using antipsychotic

medication whose psychotic illness and clinical course are so

favourable that they do not necessarily need medication perma-

nently. Changes in the antipsychotic dosing should not bemade too

fast and the patient and relatives should be able to contact without

delay if exacerbation of psychotic symptoms is suspected.

Disclosure of interest

The author has not supplied his declaration

of competing interest.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.867