Neural basis for inferring false beliefs and social emotions in others among individuals with schizophrenia and those at ultra-high risk for psychosis

Yosuke Takano; Yuta Aoki; Noriaki Yahata; Yuki Kawakubo; Hideyuki Inoue; Norichika Iwashiro; Tatsunobu Natsubori; Shinsuke Koike; Wataru Gonoi; Hiroki Sasaki; Hidemasa Takao; Kiyoto Kasai; Hidenori Yamasue

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2016.11.003

Neural basis for inferring false beliefs and social emotions in others among individuals with schizophrenia and those at ultra-high risk for psychosis

Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. 2017 Jan 30:259:34-41. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2016.11.003. Epub 2016 Nov 23.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan.
² Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan; The Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, One Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA.
³ Department of Child Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan.
⁴ Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan.
⁵ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan; Department of Psychiatry, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1-20-1 Handayama, Higashiku, Hamamatsu City 431-3192, Japan. Electronic address: yamasue@hama-med.ac.jp.

PMID: 27960147
DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2016.11.003

Abstract

Inferring beliefs and social emotions of others has different neural substrates and possibly different roles in the pathophysiology of different clinical phases of schizophrenia. The current study investigated the neural basis for inferring others' beliefs and social emotions, as individual concepts, in 17 subjects at ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR), 16 patients with schizophrenia and 20 healthy controls. Brain activity significantly differed from normal in both the left superior temporal sulcus (STS) and the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in the schizophrenia group while inferring others' beliefs, whereas those of UHR group were in the middle of those in the schizophrenia and healthy-control groups. Brain activity during inferring others' social emotions significantly differed in both the left STS and right IFG among individuals at UHR; however, there was no significant difference in the schizophrenia group. In contrast, brain activity differed in the left IFG of those in both the schizophrenia and UHR groups while inferring social emotion. Regarding the difference in direction of the abnormality, both the UHR and schizophrenia groups were characterized by hyper-STS and hypo-IFG activations when inferring others' beliefs and emotions. These findings might reflect different aspects of the same pathophysiological process at different clinical phases of psychosis.

Keywords: Empathy; Inferior frontal gyrus; Mentalizing; Social cognition; Superior temporal sulcus; Theory of mind.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Emotions / physiology*
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Nerve Net / diagnostic imaging
Nerve Net / physiopathology
Psychotic Disorders / diagnostic imaging*
Psychotic Disorders / physiopathology
Psychotic Disorders / psychology
Risk
Schizophrenia / diagnostic imaging*
Schizophrenia / physiopathology
Social Perception*
Young Adult