Investigating gaze processing in euthymic bipolar disorder: Impaired ability to infer mental state and intention, but preservation of social attentional orienting

Abstract

Euthymic bipolar disorder (BD) has been associated with subtle impairment in face processing. However, it is not known whether their difficulties extend to the processing of gaze. In the present study, two tasks, both of which rely on the ability to make use of the eye region of a pictured face, were used: the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test and the Eye-gaze cueing task. Compared to healthy controls, BD patients were impaired at judging mental state from images of the face but showed normal susceptibility to the direction of gaze as an attentional cue. These findings suggest that BD patients present selective gaze processing impairment, limited to the sensitivity to intention and emotion. This impairment could account at least partially for the higher levels of interpersonal problems generally observed in BD.

Impaired social cognition in bipolar disorder: A meta-analysis of Theory of Mind in euthymic patients

“…A recent study has shown to overlap between impaired verbal memory function and poor RMET performance, especially in male BD patients (Dalkner et al, 2019). Certain emotional deficiencies in affective ToM in euthymic BD patients have been described in other studies (Espinós et al, 2018; Marotta et al, 2018; Martino et al, 2011; Wolf et al, 2010). These findings are in contrast with previous studies that stated that BD patients only showed Cognitive ToM deficits (Montag et al, 2010; Shamay-Tsoory et al, 2009).…”

“…Finally, studies that did not provide information about the patients’ mood states and lack of specific data on BD’s ToM performance were excluded from the analysis. We also contacted seven authors for incomplete information and/or further clarification but received answer from only two authors with the requested data (Marotta et al, 2018; Ospina et al, 2018). The first and second authors (L.d.S.R.…”

Social modulators of gaze-mediated orienting of attention: A review

“…In this sense, the gaze-cueing task and its related phenomenon (i.e., GCE) are one of the most striking examples of how different disciplines can mutually contribute and interact to foster the understanding of fundamental underlying constructs. Indeed, in addition to what we have reviewed so far in relation to healthy adults, much is also now known in relation to clinical populations (e.g., Akiyama et al, 2008;Dalmaso et al, 2015a;Dalmaso, Galfano, Tarqui, Forti, & Castelli, 2013;Heimler et al, 2015;Kuhn et al, 2010;Langdon, Corner, McLaren, Coltheart, & Ward, 2006;Marotta et al, 2014;Marotta et al, 2018a), nonhuman species (see Shepherd, 2010, for a review), and human-robot interaction (see Chevalier, Kompatsiari, Ciardo, & Wykowska, 2020, for a review). This research effort has also been put forward from a developmental perspective (e.g., Farroni et al, 2004;Pickron, Fava, & Scott, 2017) and with the aim of uncovering the neural underpinnings (e.g., Tipples, Johnston, & Mayes, 2013).…”

Social attention across borders: A cross‐cultural investigation of gaze cueing elicited by same‐ and other‐ethnicity faces

“…The central role of the eyes for humans is also reflected in the ability to attend and follow the gaze of others, which can also play a role in promoting inferences about the intentions and mental states of others (Capozzi & Ristic, 2018). This perspective is also supported by evidence suggesting that individuals diagnosed with psychopathologies known to be associated to impairments in the social cognition domain can exhibit alterations in their attentional response to gaze stimuli (Akiyama et al ., 2008; Caruana et al ., 2018; Dalmaso et al ., 2015a; Dalmaso, Galfano, Tarqui, Forti, & Castelli, 2013; Dawson, Meltzoff, Osterling, Rinaldi, & Brown, 1998; Kuhn et al ., 2010; Langdon, Corner, McLaren, Coltheart, & Ward, 2006; Marotta et al ., 2014, 2018).…”

“…Since the end of the past millennium, researchers have attempted to explore the attentional orienting response elicited by averted gaze stimuli and developed the so‐called gaze‐cueing paradigm (see Driver et al ., 1999; Friesen & Kingstone, 1998; Hietanen, 1999; Langton & Bruce, 1999). This has proved as an extremely popular paradigm largely because of its flexibility and potential for providing insightful answers in many different fields within psychological science, including social, developmental, and comparative psychology (e.g., Bayliss & Tipper, 2005; Carraro et al ., 2017; Chen & Zhao, 2015; Ciardo, Ricciardelli, Lugli, Rubichi, & Iani, 2015; Dalmaso, Alessi, Castelli, & Galfano, 2020a; Deaner, Shepherd, & Platt, 2006; Farroni, Massaccesi, Pividori, & Johnson, 2004; Marotta et al ., 2014, 2018; Pickron, Fava, & Scott, 2017; Shepherd, 2010).…”