Brain connectivity changes occurring following cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis predict long-term recovery

Transl Psychiatry. 2017 Jan 17;7(1):e1001. doi: 10.1038/tp.2016.263.

Abstract

Little is known about the psychobiological mechanisms of cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp) and which specific processes are key in predicting favourable long-term outcomes. Following theoretical models of psychosis, this proof-of-concept study investigated whether the long-term recovery path of CBTp completers can be predicted by the neural changes in threat-based social affective processing that occur during CBTp. We followed up 22 participants who had undergone a social affective processing task during functional magnetic resonance imaging along with self-report and clinician-administered symptom measures, before and after receiving CBTp. Monthly ratings of psychotic and affective symptoms were obtained retrospectively across 8 years since receiving CBTp, plus self-reported recovery at final follow-up. We investigated whether these long-term outcomes were predicted by CBTp-led changes in functional connections with dorsal prefrontal cortical and amygdala during the processing of threatening and prosocial facial affect. Although long-term psychotic symptoms were predicted by changes in prefrontal connections during prosocial facial affective processing, long-term affective symptoms were predicted by threat-related amygdalo-inferior parietal lobule connectivity. Greater increases in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex connectivity with amygdala following CBTp also predicted higher subjective ratings of recovery at long-term follow-up. These findings show that reorganisation occurring at the neural level following psychological therapy can predict the subsequent recovery path of people with psychosis across 8 years. This novel methodology shows promise for further studies with larger sample size, which are needed to better examine the sensitivity of psychobiological processes, in comparison to existing clinical measures, in predicting long-term outcomes.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Affective Symptoms / psychology
  • Amygdala / diagnostic imaging
  • Amygdala / physiopathology
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / physiopathology*
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • Facial Recognition
  • Female
  • Functional Neuroimaging
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Neural Pathways / diagnostic imaging
  • Neural Pathways / physiopathology
  • Parietal Lobe / diagnostic imaging
  • Parietal Lobe / physiopathology
  • Prefrontal Cortex / diagnostic imaging
  • Prefrontal Cortex / physiopathology
  • Psychotic Disorders / diagnostic imaging
  • Psychotic Disorders / physiopathology
  • Psychotic Disorders / psychology
  • Psychotic Disorders / therapy*
  • Recovery of Function
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Schizophrenia, Paranoid / diagnostic imaging
  • Schizophrenia, Paranoid / physiopathology
  • Schizophrenia, Paranoid / psychology
  • Schizophrenia, Paranoid / therapy*
  • Social Perception
  • Treatment Outcome