Is there a way improve our ability to understand the minds of others? Towards addressing this question, here, we conducted a single-arm, proof-of-concept study to evaluate whether real-time fMRI neurofeedback (rtfMRI-NF) from the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) leads to volitional control of the neural network subserving theory of mind (ToM; the process by which we attribute and reason about the mental states of others). As additional aims, we evaluated the strategies used to self-regulate the network and whether volitional control of the ToM network was moderated by participant characteristics and associated with improved performance on behavioral measures. Sixteen participants underwent fMRI while completing a task designed to individually-localize the TPJ, and then three separate rtfMRI-NF scans during which they completed multiple runs of a training task while receiving intermittent, activation-based feedback from the TPJ, and one run of a transfer task in which no neurofeedback was provided. A priori region-of-interest analyses demonstrated volitional control in most regions during the training tasks and during the transfer task, although the effects were smaller in magnitude and not observed in one of the neurofeedback targets for the transfer task. Text analysis demonstrated that volitional control was most strongly associated with thinking about prior social experiences when up-regulating the neural signal. Analysis of behavioral performance and brain-behavior associations largely did not reveal behavior changes except for a positive association between volitional control in RTPJ and changes in performance on one ToM task. Together, this study demonstrates the feasibility of training volitional control of a social cognitive brain network, which may have clinical applications.

Social anhedonia (SA) is a pernicious symptom observed across schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSDs). While in-the-moment social pleasure experiences are intact in SSDs, anticipatory pleasure experiences may be disrupted. Thus, the ability to predict future affect in social situations, or social affective forecasting (SAF), may play a role in SA. Therefore, we utilized daily diary methods to examine SAF in SSDs and the association between SAF and SA in 34 SSD and 43 non-SSD individuals. SAF was calculated as the difference between anticipatory and consummatory ratings of 13 positive and negative emotions for daily social interactions reported across eight days. Results suggest that individuals with SSDs are less accurate in forecasting negative, but not positive affect, for future social interactions. Further, decreased forecasting accuracy of negative affect was associated with elevated levels of SA and lower social pleasure. Together, these data suggest that inaccuracies in forecasting negative affect may be a worthwhile intervention target for reducing SA in SSDs.

No abstract

Several forms of social defeat, including ostracism, discrimination, bullying, and related experiences, have been associated with psychotic disorders and experiences. The social defeat hypothesis of schizophrenia attempts to explain these associations by positing that chronic exclusion due to having outsider status leads to deleterious neurobiological changes that produce psychosis. Here, we test non-neurobiological tenants of this theory, including the relative impact of daily, real-world, chronic social defeat versus an acute, time-limited, experimentally-induced socially defeating experience (i.e., social exclusion), the moderating role of psychosis-proneness, and the specificity of social defeat on psychosis-related outcomes. We find that real-world, chronic, but not acute, time-limited, laboratory-based social defeat is associated with decreased trust, but not false-alarms on an auditory signal detection task. These associations were qualified by interactions that are in line with social reconnection (i.e., positive appraisals of social stimuli following exclusion). Real-world, chronic social defeat was also associated with delusion- and hallucination-proneness. Together, these data highlight the importance of daily, real-world forms of social defeat versus laboratory manipulations on specific psychosis-related outcomes.