Keywords

Schizophrenia, insula, insular cortex, psychosis, positive symptoms, COVID-19, SARS-COV-2

Abstract

Previous work in human and animal studies has implicated aberrant insular cortex (IC) activity in the pathophysiology of hallucinations. Of note, the IC overlaps with the olfactory cortex (OC), a region of the brain that receives extensive projections from sensory neurons of the olfactory epithelium. SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious coronavirus with a demonstrated ability to cause anosmia; the virus does this by colocalizing with and damaging support cells in the olfactory epithelium, ultimately leading to alterations in olfactory receptor cell signaling to the OC. Given the overlap between OC and IC, we asked the question of whether COVID-19 infection might result in aberrant signaling in the IC as well, potentially altering the frequency with which individuals diagnosed with a diagnosed psychotic disorder (e.g., schizophrenia) experience hallucinations. To investigate, we recruited participants (n=97) from multiple SZ support groups on the social media website Reddit. We asked participants to complete a survey that recorded information about their history of COVID-19 infection(s), and whether or not they had schizophrenia. Additionally, participants completed a positive symptom (e.g., hallucinations across various sensory modalities and delusions) severity assessment adapted from the PNS-Q. We found the frequency with which an individual reported COVID-19 infection is positively correlated with total scores on the positive symptom inventory. This correlation became stronger when we restricted data analysis to individuals who reported having lost their sense of smell (anosmia) during the infection. Separate analyses were conducted within the anosmia yes cohort grouping scores by symptom modality, and significant positive correlations were found between COVID-19 infection and gustatory, auditory, tactile, and visual hallucinations scores. Additionally, 66% of participants indicated that they felt their symptoms of schizophrenia were either worse or significantly worse after the pandemic. These findings indicate that COVID-19 infection may have uniquely impacted this population and add further evidence to the body of literature that seeks to link aberrant insular cortical activity with psychotic hallucinations.

Thesis Completion Year

2024

Thesis Completion Semester

Fall

Thesis Chair

Benjamin R. Fry

College

College of Medicine

Department

Burnett School of Biomedial Science

Thesis Discipline

Neuroscience

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus Access

None

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

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Rights Statement

In Copyright