This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This study is investigating how gonadal hormones mediate brain activity In the affective arousal circuitry In healthy subjects and how this process Is disrupted In schizophrenia (SCZ). Previous research has demonstrated that areas of the brain Implicated In the arousal circuitry are rich in gonadal hormone receptors. This evidence suggests that hormones have some influence on the experience of emotion, as does evidence that women's experience of emotion varies during the menstrual cycle as hormone levels vary. There is also ample evidence that the processing of emotion is disrupted in SCZ, as is the menstrual cycle in women with SCZ. Using functional MRI, we will examine emotion processing in the brain by showing emotional stimuli to 40 women (20 control/20 w/ SCZ) scanned with fMRI at two points in the menstrual cycle and 40 men (20 control/20 w/ SCZ) scanned once. Participants will also have several blood samples taken before, during and after presentation of the emotional stimuli timed to hormonal responses at the pituitary, adrenal and gonadal levels. Brain activity deficits In arousal circuitry will be associated with hormonal dysregulation, physiological measures of arousal and psychological measures of emotion.
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