No abstract

Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to how we identify and understand the mental states of others. ToM abilities vary with dimensions of normal-range personality and can be seriously impaired in a number of mental disorders, particularly those related to the Antagonism domain. The current study used a multi-task design to examine how ToM relates to Agreeableness-Antagonism subfactors, replicating and extending previous work. Participants (N = 335) completed self-report measures of the Big Five, empathy, and personality pathology, as well as tasks spanning mental state attribution, affect recognition, and mentalizing. Exploratory structural equation modeling was used to assess the impact of Agreeableness-Antagonism subfactors on ToM. A three-factor structure was derived for Agreeableness-Antagonism, with factors corresponding to Compassion-Callousness, Pacifism-Aggression, and Honesty-Manipulativeness. While higher Aggression and lower Compassion predicted worse ToM ability, higher Manipulativeness predicted better ToM ability. Findings replicate and extend work suggesting differential relations of specific Agreeableness-Antagonism subfactors with social cognition. We discuss our results with a focus on the importance of dimensional psychopathology models and facet-level research.

Background: Social cognitive processes such as emotion perception and empathy allow humans to navigate complex social landscapes and are associated with specific neural systems. In particular, theory of mind (ToM), which refers to our ability to decipher the mental states of others, is related to the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex and temporoparietal junction, which include portions of the default network. Both social cognition and the default network have been linked to the personality trait Agreeableness. We hypothesized that default network activity during a ToM task would positively predict social cognitive abilities and Agreeableness.Method: In a 3T fMRI scanner, participants (N = 1050) completed a ToM task in which they observed triangles displaying random or social (i.e., human-like) movement. Participants also completed self-report measures of Agreeableness and tests of intelligence and social cognitive ability. Average blood oxygen level dependent responses were calculated for default network regions associated with social cognition, and structural equation modeling was used to test associations of personality and task performance with activation in those brain regions. Results: Default network activation in the dorsal medial subsystem was greater for social vs. random animations. Default network activation in response to social animations predicted better performance across social cognitive tasks and higher levels of Agreeableness.Conclusions: Strength of neural response to social stimuli in the default network, and particularly its dorsal medial subsystem, may facilitate effective social processing and have downstream effects on social interactions. We discuss theoretical and methodological implications of this work for social and personality neuroscience.

Background Positive symptoms of schizophrenia and its extended phenotype—schizotypy—are characterized by the inclusion of novel, erroneous mental contents. These positive symptoms occur across those with a variety of diagnoses, including schizophrenia, personality disorders, and depression and bipolar with psychotic features. One promising transdiagnostic framework for explaining positive symptoms involves “apophenia,” or the tendency to perceive meaningful patterns where none, in fact, exist. Though hallucinations and delusions represent extreme instances of apophenia, it also occurs throughout the population and can include any instance of a false positive cognition, including such benign occurrences as seeing animals in the clouds or hearing your name in noise. Importantly, apophenia may be the result of heightened pattern seeking in both perception and belief, a tendency that is, along with apophenia and positive schizotypy, positively associated with the personality trait openness to experience. We propose that pattern detection and associated personality and psychopathological traits are, in turn, underlaid by neural networks associated with experiential simulation and cognitive control, specifically, the default and frontoparietal networks. Both of these networks have been implicated in research on psychosis, schizotypy, and openness. Methods Despite consistently demonstrated associations among openness, positive schizotypy, and apophenia, few studies have investigated relations between schizotypy and behavioral manifestations of apophenia, let alone the role of normative personality variation or underlying neural substrates. To investigate these associations, we conducted a series of studies (total N > 3000) using self-report questionnaires, behavioral indicators of pattern detection sensitivity, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Results Across samples, robust positive associations were found among openness, positive schizotypy, and psychotic-like experiences. In turn, all three of these traits were positively associated with general tendencies toward false positive errors, including perceiving social intentions or emotions when none were present, detecting letters in distractor shapes and speech in noise, and picking up on semantic associations between unrelated words. Results using resting state functional MRI data suggested positive schizotypy, openness, and especially their shared variance, were related positively to connectivity of the default network and negatively to frontoparietal connectivity. Discussion Taken together, these findings suggest that pattern sensitivity and associated brain networks may underlie openness, positive schizotypy, and psychotic-like experiences. Those with heightened openness and associated risk for psychosis may demonstrate an increased default-network-related tendency toward erroneous thoughts and perceptions (false positives), coupled with diminished frontoparietal function and impairments in the ability to successfully engage in reality testing and screen out false positives. Overall, our results advance understanding of the personality and neurocognitive correlates of the extended psychosis phenotype, while adding to a growing body of research characterizing the underlying biology of transdiagnostic psychiatric features through the use of large, nonpatient samples.