@article{Investigating:2721,
      recid = {2721},
      author = {Okuneye, Victoria Temitope},
      title = {Investigating the Relationship of Delusions in Psychosis  with the Functional Integration of Prediction Error Neural  Networks},
      publisher = {University of Chicago},
      school = {Ph.D.},
      address = {2020-12},
      pages = {189},
      abstract = {Delusions, or false beliefs that are held with high  conviction, are signature symptoms of several highly  distressing psychotic disorders. Because there are few  meaningful biomarkers and limited treatment options for  psychotic disorders, understanding this specific symptom  may offer a useful transdiagnostic target to move the field  forward. As psychosis is commonly understood as a break  with reality, it stands that learning more about the  neurobiology of the systems that underlie perception of  reality, may provide greater insight into the pathology of  psychotic delusions.  A promising but sparse line of  research on delusions is centered on prediction error (PE),  neural signals that register the difference between our  expectations and the outcomes that actually occur. Problems  with this process may account for several cognitive  functions implicated in delusion formation and maintenance  such as impaired salience detection, increased uncertainty,  and reduced precision of belief. While prediction error  abnormality is posited as a key mechanism of delusional  beliefs, the empirical evidence supporting this is limited.  In this project, resting state and task-based fMRI data  obtained from patients diagnosed with primary psychotic  disorders along with healthy controls were used to  investigate the network connectivity of brain regions  associated with prediction error and delusions. Though  abnormalities in the prediction error activation and  functional connectivity were found in psychosis, these  changes were not transdiagnostically associated with  delusions. However, through use of novel computational  modeling approaches, effective connectivity alterations  within the intrinsic connectivity of prediction error  circuits were shown to be associated with both psychosis  and delusions. These results offer new insight into the  pathophysiology of delusions and may help to guide more  directed investigation of neural circuitry in future  biological and clinical studies.},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/2721},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.6082/uchicago.2721},
}