TY - JOUR T1 - MIdbrain activation during pavlovian conditioning and delusional symptoms in schizophrenia AU - Romaniuk L, Honey GD, King JL, et al Y1 - 2010/12/06 N1 - 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.169 JO - Archives of General Psychiatry SP - 1246 EP - 1254 VL - 67 IS - 12 N2 - Context  Recent theories have suggested that the inappropriate activation of limbic motivational systems in response to neutral stimuli may underlie the development of delusions in schizophrenia.Objective  To investigate the activation of the amygdala, midbrain, and ventral striatum during an aversive pavlovian conditioning task in patients with schizophrenia and healthy control participants using functional magnetic resonance imaging.Design  Cross-sectional case-control functional neuroimaging study.Setting  Academic medical center.Participants  Twenty patients with DSM-IV–diagnosed schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 20 healthy control participants.Main Outcome Measures  Regional brain activation as assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging blood oxygen level–dependent responses, and delusional symptom severity on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale.Results  Patients with schizophrenia showed abnormal activation of the amygdala, midbrain, and ventral striatum during conditioning. Activation of the midbrain in response to neutral rather than aversive cues during conditioning was correlated with the severity of delusional symptoms in the patient group (corrected P = .04).Conclusion  Inappropriate activation of the midbrain in response to neutral stimuli during conditioning is associated with the severity of delusional symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. SN - 0003-990X M3 - doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.169 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.169 ER -