Altered Sense of Agency in First-Episode Schizophrenia Patients: A Comparative Study Across Two Sites
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Background
Disturbances in the sense of agency are a key marker of schizophrenia and are closely linked to core symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions of influence. Neuroimaging studies have implicated cortical midline structures and the default mode network (DMN) associated with self-related processing, but replication across sites and larger samples is needed.
Methods
We examined neural correlates of self-versus other-agency judgments in two independent cohorts of first-episode schizophrenia patients ( n = 177) and controls ( n = 123) recruited at separate MRI centers. During fMRI, participants performed an agency-related task. Data were analyzed using independent component analysis and statistical parametric mapping, focusing on networks associated with self-referential processing.
Results
Across both sites, self-agency consistently engaged the anterior and posterior cingulate cortex and the precuneus, key regions of the DMN. Schizophrenia patients exhibited significantly reduced DMN activation during self-referential processing compared to controls. While site-related differences were noted in the magnitude of activation, the core pattern of DMN disruption was robust across analytic approaches and datasets.
Conclusions
This study replicates and extends prior findings of altered self-agency processing in schizophrenia, demonstrating consistent DMN hypo-activation in first-episode patients across two independent cohorts. These results validate the agency paradigm as a reliable probe of self-related neural mechanisms and support models of schizophrenia as a disorder of altered self-perception.
