Faux pas recognition performance in a help-seeking population at clinical high risk of psychosis

Abstract

There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that patients with psychosis show impaired theory of mind (ToM). However, much remains to be understood as to whether ToM deficits occur in the premorbid or post-onset period of psychosis. Our primary aim was to examine empirically impairment on ToM tasks in a group of individuals with clinical high risk (CHR) of psychosis. Fifty CHR participants identified through the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes and 52 age-/education-matched controls were assessed with a complete standard neuropsychological battery (the MCCB, MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery) and a social cognition assessment (Faux Pas Test, FPT). We then examined the association of baseline FPT performance with conversion to psychosis at 12-month follow-up. Compared with controls, the CHR group showed significantly poorer performances on the FPT and most MCCB domains. Significant positive correlations were found between faux pas detection and the MCCB domains of Attention/Vigilance and Working Memory in CHR participants when controlling for age and years of education. Mean scores on the FPT in 14 converters who were diagnosed with full-blown psychosis within 12 months were significantly lower than they were for non-converters. Impairments in ToM ability are acquired earlier in the prodromal stage of psychosis, along with general cognition (such as memory function) deficits. Declines in ToM ability may overlap with the progress of psychosis (the gradual loss insight), sharing similar neural substrates, and reflected by impairments in basic cognitive function.

Influence of social cognition as a mediator between cognitive reserve and psychosocial functioning in patients with first episode psychosis

“…It is possible that patients have social cognition deficits as a trait marker, and in addition, these deficits may worsen with symptoms, indicating that it is both a trait and a state variable. Moreover, social cognitive deficits are already present even in patients at risk of psychosis (Thompson et al ., 2012; Ohmuro et al ., 2016; Zhang et al ., 2016) and deficits have even been found in unaffected first-degree relatives (Bora and Pantelis, 2013), this highlighting its trait properties.…”

“…Medicine 5 already present even in patients at risk of psychosis (Thompson et al, 2012;Ohmuro et al, 2016;Zhang et al, 2016) and deficits have even been found in unaffected first-degree relatives (Bora and Pantelis, 2013), this highlighting its trait properties. On the other hand, another relevant finding of our study is that cognitive reserve and neurocognition predicted social cognition, both at baseline and 2 years.…”

What Do You Have in Mind? Measures to Assess Mental State Reasoning in Neuropsychiatric Populations

“…A few studies [e.g., in schizophrenia: Refs. (382–384)] have highlighted the importance of insight and a potential relationship between this and social cognition. Self-ratings (or proxy ratings of, e.g., empathy) are rarely explored in terms of a relationship with scores on these social cognitive popular tasks, but the pattern of performance on a scale such as the IRI could aid interpretation of other social cognitive tasks, e.g., high PD scores could be associated with an aversive reaction to emotional stimuli, affecting attention focus and impairing performance (49).…”

Correlation of social cognition and neurocognition on psychotic outcome: a naturalistic follow-up study of subjects with attenuated psychosis syndrome

“…In situations where the subject identified a FP, additional questions were asked to assess the subject’s understanding of the FP. Minor modifications were made for social contexts in Chinese culture, according to a preliminary survey using the FP prior to this study 31 . The Chinese version was very similar to the English version, with hits or clues remaining unchanged.…”