News Releases & Research Results Development of schizophrenia and autism classifiers based on brain functional connectivity, leading to elucidation of the relationship between the disorders: Opening the way for elucidation of the relationship between psychiatric disorders by disease classifiers adopting a machine-learning algorithm

The results of collaborative research conducted by Professor Hidehiko Takahashi of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences; Director Mitsuo Kawato of the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) Brain Information Communication Research Laboratory Group; the research group of the Department of Psychiatry, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine; the National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology; Showa University Medical Institute of Developmental Disabilities Research; the Department of Neuropsychiatry, the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine; Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical & Health Sciences; the Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and the University Medical Center Utrecht.

• Classifiers of schizophrenia and autism, which share many characteristic symptoms and behaviors, were developed by using resting-state functional connectivity,* magnetic resonance imaging, and machine-learning algorithms.
  * Connectivity defined by the temporally synchronizing patterns of neural activity fluctuations in anatomically distant brain areas observed in a resting state.
• By using the dual classifiers, the research group revealed that individuals with schizophrenia tended to have autism but not vice versa.
• The results of research should contribute to future tailor-made medicine for psychiatric disorders.

This research project was conducted with the support of the Strategic Research Program for Brain Sciences by AMED.

The results of research were published online in Schizophrenia Bulletin, an international scientific journal, on April 17.

Takahashi H., et al. Overlapping but asymmetrical relationships between schizophrenia and autism revealed by brain connectivity Schizophrenia Bulletin
DOI：10.1093/schbul/sbaa021