Endogenous oxytocin levels are associated with impaired social cognition and neurocognition in schizophrenia

Strauss, Gregory P.; Chapman, Hannah C.; Keller, William R.; Koenig, James I.; Gold, James M.; Carpenter, William T.; Boyer, Robert

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2019.02.017

Cited by 44 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…In this study, SCZ patients had significantly lower MCCB scores than healthy controls, which are consistent with previous studies. 4,44 Evidence concerning the role of KYNA in cognitive dysfunctions in SCZ has mainly arisen from preclinical studies. In animal studies, animals that overexpressed KYNA showed cognitive impairments similar to those observed in SCZ patients, including impaired sensorimotor gating, working memory, and cognitive flexibility.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cognitive deficit is the key feature of schizophrenia (SCZ), and includes a range of domain deficits such as executive function, learning, memory, attention, and social cognition. [1][2][3][4] These may emerge long before illness onset and remain unchanged with improvement of clinical symptoms in SCZ patients. 5 Cognitive impairments are correlated with poor clinical outcome and rehabilitation of social function.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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<p>Increased Plasma Kynurenic Acid Levels are Associated with Impaired Attention/Vigilance and Social Cognition in Patients with Schizophrenia</p>

Huang

Ding

et al. 2020

NDT

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Preclinical studies have reported that abnormal kynurenic acid (KYNA) may play a role in cognitive deficits. Schizophrenia (SCZ) is characterized by a wide range of cognitive deficits that may evolve from abnormal KYNA. This study aimed to explore the relationship between KYNA and cognitive impairment in SCZ, which has not yet been reported. Methods: We recruited 30 SCZ patients and 34 healthy controls, measured clinical symptoms by using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and performed cognitive tests using the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB). Plasma levels of tryptophan, kynurenine, and KYNA were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Results: We found that plasma KYNA levels were significantly higher in patients than in healthy controls (p=0.009). The cognitive performance of patients in the total MCCB scores and the scores of all subscales were significantly lower than those in healthy controls (all P < 0.01). Correlation analysis showed that KYNA levels were negatively correlated with attention/vigilance (r=-0.457, p=0.019) and social cognition (r=-0.481, p=0.013) only in SCZ patients. Conclusion: Our results indicate that elevated plasma KYNA levels may serve as a biomarker of cognitive impairment in SCZ patients.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

<p>Increased Plasma Kynurenic Acid Levels are Associated with Impaired Attention/Vigilance and Social Cognition in Patients with Schizophrenia</p>

Huang

Ding

et al. 2020

NDT

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“…Nonetheless, a systematic understanding of the physiological OXT response to emotional stimuli in healthy adults is still lacking, and it could be argued that introducing a new paradigm to compare patients with controls might lead to a reduced interpretability. Although the importance of the endogenous OXT as a predictor of social cognitive function has recently been stressed [65], future research is necessary to shed light on endogenous OXT baseline levels and reactivity in healthy individuals as well as in clinical populations in order to achieve a higher comparability. Moreover, it is unclear, whether passively viewing a movie elicits the same level of emotions and hormonal reactivity as an active social interaction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peripheral oxytocin is inversely correlated with cognitive, but not emotional empathy in schizophrenia

et al. 2020

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Endogenous oxytocin has been associated with different aspects of social cognition in healthy subjects and patients with schizophrenia. In this pilot study, we investigated the relationship between plasma oxytocin and oxytocin level changes induced by empathy-eliciting, attachment-related movie scenes with correlates of cognitive and emotional empathy in patients and healthy controls. The Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) were administered to patients with schizophrenia (N = 35, 12 females) and healthy controls (N = 35, 12 females) to estimate dimensions of cognitive and emotional empathy. Peripheral basal oxytocin concentrations and oxytocin responses to movie-based emotional stimuli were assessed using radioimmunoassay with sample extraction. In patients, induced oxytocin level changes were inversely correlated with MET cognitive empathy regarding negative emotional states. Controlling for non-social cognition and age revealed a significant negative association between basal oxytocin levels and MET cognitive empathy for positive emotions. In healthy subjects, oxytocin reactivity was inversely correlated with the IRI subscale "fantasy". Oxytocin was not related to any measure of emotional empathy. A hyper-reactive oxytocin system might be linked to impaired cognitive empathy as a part of a dysfunctional regulative circuit of attachment-related emotions and interpersonal stressors or threats by attribution of meaning. Healthy adults with a disposition to identify with fictional characters showed lower oxytocin reactivity, possibly indicating familiarity with movie-based stimuli. The oxytocinergic system may be involved in maladaptive coping mechanisms in the framework of impaired mentalizing and associated dysfunctional responses to interpersonal challenges in schizophrenia.

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“…OT injected into the lateral part of the septal brain area has been reported to improve juvenile recognition abilities in adult male rats [58]and oxytocin protects hippocampal memory and synaptic plasticity in response to stress [59]. Lower endogenous oxytocin levels are associated with poorer social cognition in schizophrenia [60]. In our experiment, the CP group performed poorly in the Y-maze and for social cognition, and exhibited decreased AVP and oxytocin levels in hippocampus.…”

Section: Coprophagy Affects Vole's Memorymentioning

confidence: 50%

Coprophagy prevention alters microbiome structure and function and impairs memory in a small mammal

Zhang

Kohl

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Background In the long process of adaptive evolution, many small mammals engage in coprophagy, or the behavior of consuming feces, as a means to meet nutritional requirements when feeding on low-quality foods. In addition to nutritional benefits, coprophagy may also help herbivores retain necessary gut microbial diversity and function, which may have downstream physiological effects, such as maintaining energy balance and cognitive function. Here, we used collars to prevent Brandt’s vole (Lasiopodomys brandtii) from engaging in coprophagy and monitored changes in microbial community structure, energy metabolism, and memory formation. Results In this research, we found that coprophagy prevention decreased alpha diversity of the gut microbiota, and altered abundances of microbial taxa such as Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Oscillospira. The coprophagy prevention decreased body mass while increased food intake and ghrelin level in serum. Importantly, coprophagy prevention decreased vole’s memory and neurotransmitters in brain. The administration of acetate compensated for the energy loss and decline of spatial memory caused by coprophagy prevention and partially rescued the composition and structure of gut microbiota. Conclusions These findings identify relationship between coprophagy behavior and interactions between the gut microbiota, energy metabolism and neurological function. Our results suggest that coprophagy may have a positive effect on animal’s nutritional requirements and ecological adaptations by improving memory function.

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Endogenous oxytocin levels are associated with impaired social cognition and neurocognition in schizophrenia

Cited by 44 publications

References 57 publications

<p>Increased Plasma Kynurenic Acid Levels are Associated with Impaired Attention/Vigilance and Social Cognition in Patients with Schizophrenia</p>

<p>Increased Plasma Kynurenic Acid Levels are Associated with Impaired Attention/Vigilance and Social Cognition in Patients with Schizophrenia</p>

Peripheral oxytocin is inversely correlated with cognitive, but not emotional empathy in schizophrenia

Coprophagy prevention alters microbiome structure and function and impairs memory in a small mammal

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