Reading The Mind In The Eyes Task Research Articles

Emotion Regulation, Theory of Mind, and Attachment to Parents and Peers Among Turkish Adolescent Offenders and Victims: A Single-Center, Cross-Sectional, Case-Control Study.

There may be many risk factors for both youth offending and victimization. In our study, we aimed to compare youth offenders and victims in terms of attachment characteristics, emotion regulation, and mind-reading skills. This study employed a single-center, cross-sectional, case-control design. Kiddie and Young Adult Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia Present and Lifetime Version along with diagnostic criteria of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, were administered by clinicians. Mind-reading skills were assessed with Reading the Mind in the Eyes task (RMET) and Faces test. Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment-Short Form (IPPA-SF) were used for assessing attachment and emotion regulation properties. : When we compared the two groups in terms of IPPA-SF, DERS, RMET and Faces test, we found that victimized and offending youth did not differ significantly in terms of attachment to peers and communication/trust domains of parental attachment. Youth offenders and victims differed significantly in terms of DERS- Non-acceptance and Goals both (P = .031 and .045; respectively). Offending youth scored significantly higher in Non-acceptance, while victimized youth scored significantly higher in Goals. : Offending youth were more alienated from their parents, were experiencing problems with emotional acceptance, and had lower theory of mind and emotion recognition skills compared to victimized youth. Therefore, protective interventions supporting parent-adolescent communication/attachment, as well as emotion recognition/regulation and theory of mind skills of youth, may protect children from both victimization and delinquency.

Effect of Emotional Valence on Emotion Recognition in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study investigated how emotional valence of a perceived emotional state impacted performance on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task (RMET) in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) controls. Valence of items on the RMET, Adult (RMET-A) and Child (RMET-C) versions, was first classified in a survey of 113 medical students. Adolescents with ASD (N = 33) and TD adolescents (N = 30) were administered both RMET versions. Individuals with ASD made more errors than TD controls on positive and negative, but not neutral, valence items. The difference in performance was accentuated on the RMET-A compared to the RMET-C. Both emotional valence and complexity of language contribute to RMET performance in individuals with ASD.

Theory of mind in adolescents with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A cross-sectional study.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that may be associated with impaired Theory of Mind (ToM) and social cognition. ToM is a domain in social cognition, referring to one's ability to attribute beliefs, intents, perspectives, and understandings to oneself or others and to understand others' mental states. The present study enrolled 52 ADHD of adolescents and 41 healthy age-matched controls in this study. This study applied The Reading the Mind in The Eyes Task (RMET) and Theory of Mind Assessment Scale (Th.o.m.a.s.) for all participants. The results of these tasks were compared between the two study groups. No significant differences were found between these two study groups regarding ToM abilities using mean scores in the Th.o.m.a.s. inventory and the RMET. Furthermore, no association was found between the mean score in the ToM (in both study groups) and this study's parameters of gender, mean age, birth rank, family structure, and income. This study did not support the hypothesis that adolescents with ADHD perform worse on ToM tasks.

Study development and protocol for a cohort study examining the impact of baseline social cognition on response to treatment for people living with post-traumatic stress disorder

ABSTRACT Background: Social cognitive impairments, specifically in facial emotion processing and mental state attribution, are common in post-traumatic stress disorder. However few studies so far have examined whether social cognitive ability impacts on PTSD recovery. Objective: To examine whether baseline social cognitive abilities are associated with treatment outcomes following trauma-focused therapy for PTSD. Method: This is a cohort study that will relate treatment outcomes post-discharge to baseline measures of social cognition (five tasks: Emotion Odd-One-Out Task (Oddity), Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (RMET), Social Shapes Test (SST), Spontaneous Theory of Mind Protocol (STOMP), and Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8)) in people starting a course of psychological therapy for PTSD (target N = 60). The primary outcome will be pre- to post-treatment change in PTSD symptom severity (assessed using the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5). Secondary outcomes include functional impairment (assessed using the Work and Social Adjustment Scale), drop-out rate, and analyses differentiating participants with DSM-5 PTSD and ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD. Regression models will be used to examine associations between baseline social cognitive performance and outcome measures while adjusting for potential confounders. Two pilot studies informed the development of our study protocol. The first involved qualitative analysis of interviews with nine participants with lived experience of mental health problems to inform our research questions and study protocol. The second involved trialling social cognitive tasks on 20 non-clinical participants to refine our test battery. Discussion: This study will address a gap in the literature about whether abilities in social cognition in people living with PTSD are associated with treatment-related recovery. HIGHLIGHTS Impairments in social cognition are recognised in people with PTSD. Few studies have examined whether social cognitive ability is associated with recovery from PTSD. We present a study protocol, developed after pilot testing, to address this question.

Neurocognitive and neural mechanisms underlying deficit on the Reading Mind In The Eyes Task: Evidence from patients with focal prefrontal cortex damage

ABSTRACT Objective Conflicting evidence has arisen from the few correlational studies that have examined the relationship between the ability to decode social emotional cues through the eyes and executive functions in individuals with prefrontal cortex damage. The objective of the current study was (1) to investigate the impact of both focal prefrontal and parietal cortex damage on both of these domains; (2) to examine whether impaired ability to decode social emotion cues through the eyes was predicted by executive function deficits and; (3) to explore the neural correlates of both of these components. Method Thirty individuals with prefrontal cortex damage, 15 individuals with parietal cortex damage and 30 matched healthy comparison subjects were subjected to a battery of executive tasks assessing inhibition, flexibility, and planning processes and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (RMET) assessing ability to decode social emotion cues through the eyes. Results Compared to both comparison groups, individuals with prefrontal cortex damage were impaired in performing RMET and almost all executive tasks. Regression analysis showed that for individuals with prefrontal cortex damage, performance on the Stroop and Hayling tasks predicted scores on the RMET, while for the healthy comparison group, only the verbal fluency performance predicted scores on the RMET. The Voxel lesions-symptom mapping technique showed that both components rely partly on the same neural substrates, reflecting beyond the neural network of RMET per se that of the cognitive processes elicited by this multi-determinant task. Conclusion These findings suggest that the ability to read mental states of mind depends on the inhibition and flexibility executive mechanisms.

Cortical activity measured by functional near infrared spectroscopy during a theory of mind task in subjects with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and healthy controls

Theory of Mind (ToM) deficits interfere in social cognitive functioning in schizophrenia (SCZ) and are increasingly recognized to do so in bipolar disorder (BD), however their clinical and neurobiological correlates remain unclear. This study represents the first direct comparison of subjects with SCZ (N = 26), BD (N = 26) and healthy controls (N = 33) in cortical activity during the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (RMET) using functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) with the control condition (CC) involving gender identification via the same stimuli. The three groups were compared with a comprehensive ToM battery and assessed in terms of the relationship of ToM performance with clinical symptoms, insight and functioning. The controls scored higher than the SCZ and BD groups in ToM assessments, with SCZ group showing the worse performance in terms of meta-representation and empathy. The SCZ group ToM scores inversely correlated with negative symptom severity and positively correlated with insight; BD group ToM scores negatively correlated with subclinical mania symptoms and projected functioning. Cortical activity was higher during the ToM condition compared to the CC in the pre-motor and supplementary-motor cortices, middle and superior temporal gyri, and the primary somatosensory cortex. Group x Condition interaction was detected whereby activity was higher during the ToM condition among controls with no detected difference between SCZ and BD groups. The results suggest that ToM is represented similarly in cortical activity in SCZ and BD compared to healthy controls pointing to possible neurobiological convergence of SCZ and BD in underlying impairments of social cognition.

Childhood trauma, alexithymia, and mental states recognition among individuals with alcohol use disorder and healthy controls

BackgroundAlthough prior work indicates a link between childhood trauma, alexithymia, and mental states recognition, empirical support is limited. Moreover, findings based on adult samples are mixed. Previous studies demonstrate that childhood trauma might either enhance, preserve, or reduce mental states recognition in selected at-risk populations. The current study investigates whether alcohol use disorder (AUD) status moderates the association between childhood trauma, alexithymia, and mental states recognition in a treatment-seeking AUD sample and non-AUD healthy adults. MethodsData comes from 255 individuals participating in an ongoing project that compares emotional and behavioral functioning of patients treated in an inpatient setting for AUD and a comparison sample of 172 healthy controls (HCs). Mental states recognition was measured using a computerized version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (RMET). The presence of childhood trauma was assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Alexithymia was measured with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Demographic information, as well as alcohol drinking and psychopathological symptoms were assessed. A moderated mediation model was estimated whereby alexithymia was included as a mediator in the association between childhood trauma and RMET performance, with AUD diagnosis status moderating the link between alexithymia and RMET performance. ResultsFindings provide support for moderated mediation. Childhood emotional trauma impacted negative mental states recognition performance via difficulty describing feelings, but only among HCs (p < 0.01). ConclusionsFindings highlight the impact that AUD status has on the association between early life emotional trauma and difficulty describing feelings on individual differences in mental states recognition.

Relationship Between Alcohol-related Family Adversity, Alcohol Use Across Adolescence, and Mental States Recognition in Young Adulthood.

Although a theoretical link between childhood adversity and mental states recognition has been established, empirical findings are mixed. Some prior work indicates that childhood adversity might enhance, preserve, or reduce mentalization skills in selected at-risk populations. In the current study, we examine whether the presence of risky alcohol use during adolescence moderates the association between childhood alcohol-related family adversity and mental states recognition in young adulthood. Secondary data analysis was conducted on 266 young adults who participated in the Michigan Longitudinal Study-a multiwave prospective study on at-risk youth. Children were assessed after initial recruitment (wave 1, target child age range 3-5 years), with assessments repeated every 3 years using parallel measures. The current study focuses on data spanning wave 2 (age range 7-9 years) through wave 6 (target child age range 18-21 years). A family adversity index was derived reflecting exposure to a maladaptive family environment during childhood as assessed at wave 1. An alcohol use risk factor was established reflecting early problem alcohol use during adolescence (target child age range 12-17 years). Mental states recognition was measured with a computerized version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (RMET) at wave 6. Information about demographics, psychopathological symptoms, and IQ was obtained. The alcohol use risk factor was tested as a potential moderator of the association between childhood family adversity on RMET performance during young adulthood. Alcohol use risk moderated the relationship between childhood alcohol-related family adversity, and negative and neutral mental states recognition. Specifically, childhood family adversity was positively associated with neutral mental states recognition among participants high in alcohol risk (P = 0.03) and positively associated with negative mental states recognition among participants at average (P = 0.02) and high (P = 0.002) levels of alcohol risk. Findings indicate that history of childhood adversity may actually improve young adult negative and neutral mental states recognition among those demonstrating high levels of risky alcohol use, as substance use may serve as an external self-regulatory tool. Clinical interventions that target enhancing metacognitive competence and emotion regulation could ultimately help to break the cycle of alcohol-related family adversity.

Social cognition and aggression in methamphetamine dependence with and without a history of psychosis.

In substance use and psychotic disorders, socially problematic behaviours, such as high aggression may, in part, be explained by deficits in social cognition skills, like the detection of emotions or intentions in others. The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of social cognition impairment and its association with aggression in individuals with methamphetamine (MA) dependence, methamphetamine-associated psychosis (MAP), and healthy controls (CTRL). A total of 20 MAP participants, 21 MA-dependent participants without psychosis, and 21 CTRL participants performed a facial morphing emotion recognition task (ERT) across four basic emotions (anger, fear, happiness and sadness) and the reading the mind in the eyes task (RMET), and completed the aggression questionnaire. Both MA-dependent groups showed impairment in social cognition in terms of lower RMET scores relative to CTRL participants (MA; p = .047; MAP: p < .001). Additionally, performance decrements were significantly greater in MAP (p = .040), compared to MA-dependent participants. While deficits in recognising emotional expressions were restricted to anger in the MA group (p = .020), a generalized impairment across all four emotions was observed in MAP (all p ≤ .001). Additionally, both patient groups demonstrated higher levels of aggression than CTRLs, yet no association was found with social cognition. This study supported the notion of deficits in recognising facial emotional expressions and inferring mental states of others in MA dependence, with additional impairments in MAP. Failure to detect an association between social cognitive impairment and aggressive behaviour may implicate independent disturbances of the two phenomena in MA dependence.

Structural connections support emotional connections: Uncinate Fasciculus microstructure is related to the ability to decode facial emotion expressions

The Uncinate Fasciculus (UF) is an association fibre tract connecting regions in the frontal and anterior temporal lobes. UF disruption is seen in several disorders associated with impaired social behaviour, but its functional role is unclear. Here we set out to test the hypothesis that the UF is important for facial expression processing, an ability fundamental to adaptive social behaviour. In two separate experiments in healthy adults, we used high-angular resolution diffusion-weighted imaging (HARDI) and constrained spherical deconvolution (CSD) tractography to virtually dissect the UF, plus a control tract (the corticospinal tract (CST)), and quantify, via fractional anisotropy (FA), individual differences in tract microstructure. In Experiment 1, participants completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (RMET), a well-validated assay of facial expression decoding. In Experiment 2, a different set of participants completed the RMET, plus an odd-emotion-out task of facial emotion discrimination. In both experiments, participants also completed a control odd-identity-out facial identity discrimination task. In Experiment 1, FA of the right-, but not the left-hemisphere, UF was significantly correlated with performance on the RMET task, specifically for emotional, but not neutral expressions. UF FA was not significantly correlated with facial identity discrimination performance. In Experiment 2, FA of the right-, but not left-hemisphere, UF was again significantly correlated with performance on emotional items from the RMET, together with performance on the facial emotion discrimination task. Again, no significant association was found between UF FA and facial identity discrimination performance. Our findings highlight the contribution of right-hemisphere UF microstructure to inter-individual variability in the ability to decode facial emotion expressions, and may explain why disruption of this pathway affects social behaviour.

Atypical autonomic nervous system complexity accompanies social cognition task performance in ASD

BackgroundEmerging evidence suggests that autonomic nervous system (ANS) function is affected in ASD. Existing literature has focused on quantifying the activity of ANS components (i.e. sympathetic/parasympathetic systems) individually. To this end, measures such as respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and high- and low-frequency spectral components of heart rate variability have been employed. Recent findings indicate that these methods employ assumptions that do not fully consider the complexity of the ANS system and the interaction of its components. To this end, we propose a new method for examining ANS function in ASD. MethodsA sample of typically developing (TD) children (n=34) and children with ASD (n=45) performed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (RMET), preceded and followed by periods of baseline movie-watching. Multiscale Entropy (MSE) was employed as a new tool to examine the complexity of the cardiac signal. ResultsSignificant group differences in MSE emerged to suggest atypicality in the regularity of the autonomic signal at short and long time scales in the ASD group during the RMET task. ConclusionsFor the RMET task, our results may suggest atypical activation of parasympathetic influences on the heart, which contributes to short-term patterns in the heartbeat signal, as well as atypicalities in the slower acting processes. Results also suggest that the coupling between the fast-acting and slow-acting influences may be atypical in ASD during the examined social cognition task.

Neural Mechanisms Underlying Affective Theory of Mind in Violent Antisocial Personality Disorder and/or Schizophrenia.

Among violent offenders with schizophrenia, there are 2 sub-groups, one with and one without, conduct disorder (CD) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), who differ as to treatment response and alterations of brain structure. The present study aimed to determine whether the 2 groups also differ in Theory of Mind and neural activations subsuming this task. Five groups of men were compared: 3 groups of violent offenders-schizophrenia plus CD/ASPD, schizophrenia with no history of antisocial behavior prior to illness onset, and CD/ASPD with no severe mental illness-and 2 groups of non-offenders, one with schizophrenia and one without (H). Participants completed diagnostic interviews, the Psychopathy Checklist Screening Version Interview, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, authorized access to clinical and criminal files, and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while completing an adapted version of the Reading-the-Mind-in-the-Eyes Task (RMET). Relative to H, nonviolent and violent men with schizophrenia and not CD/ASPD performed more poorly on the RMET, while violent offenders with CD/ASPD, both those with and without schizophrenia, performed similarly. The 2 groups of violent offenders with CD/ASPD, both those with and without schizophrenia, relative to the other groups, displayed higher levels of activation in a network of prefrontal and temporal-parietal regions and reduced activation in the amygdala. Relative to men without CD/ASPD, both groups of violent offenders with CD/ASPD displayed a distinct pattern of neural responses during emotional/mental state attribution pointing to distinct and comparatively successful processing of social information.

Estilos de personalidad dependiente y autocrítico: desempeño cognitivo y sintomatología depresiva

This study examines the relationship between the dependent and self-criticism dimensions of personality with emotional, cognitive and social deficits associated with depressive symptoms. The sample included 91 college students, aged 18 to 24, from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad de Chile. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ) tests were used in order to explore the emotional state of the participants. A Stroop task and a Serial Reaction Time (SSRT) test were used in order to assess cognitive performance. In turn, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (RMET) face recognition task, by Baron-Cohen, was used to assess the mentalising capacity. Significant correlations were found between dependency and self-criticism dimensions, depressive symptoms and cognitive performance of the participants.

Oxytocin to modulate emotional processing in schizophrenia: A randomized, double-blind, cross-over clinical trial

Deficits in social cognition, including emotional processing, are hallmarks of schizophrenia and antipsychotic agents seem to be ineffectual to improve these symptoms. However, oxytocin does seem to have beneficial effects on social cognition. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of four months of treatment with intranasal oxytocin, in 31 patients with schizophrenia, on distinct aspects of social cognition. This was assessed using standardized and experimental tests in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial. All patients underwent clinical and experimental assessment before treatment, four months after treatment and at the end of treatment. Social cognition abilities were assessed with the Mayer–Salovey–Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes task (RMET). Furthermore, an Emotional Priming Paradigm (EPP) was developed to examine the effects of oxytocin on implicit perceptual sensitivity to affective information and explicit facial affect recognition.We found that oxytocin improved performance on MSCEIT compared to placebo in Branch 3-Understanding Emotion (p-value=0.004; Cohen׳s d=1.12). In the EPP task, we observed a significant reduction of reaction times for facial affect recognition (p-value=0.021; Cohen׳s d=0.88). No effects were found for implicit priming or for theory of mind abilities. Further study is required in order to highlight the potential for possible integration of oxytocin with antipsychotic agents as well as to evaluate psycho-social treatment as a multi-dimensional approach to increase explicit emotional processing abilities and compensate social cognition deficits related to schizophrenia.

The effects of intranasal oxytocin in opioid-dependent individuals and healthy control subjects: a pilot study.

There has been an explosion of research on the potential benefits of the social neuropeptide oxytocin for a number of mental disorders including substance use disorders. Recent evidence suggests that intranasal oxytocin has both direct anti-addiction effects and pro-social effects that may facilitate engagement in psychosocial treatment for substance use disorders. We aimed to assess the tolerability of intranasal oxytocin and its effects on heroin craving, implicit association with heroin and social perceptual ability in opioid-dependent patients receiving opioid replacement therapy (ORT) and healthy control participants. We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, within- and between-subjects, crossover, proof-of-concept trial to examine the effects of oxytocin (40 international units) on a cue-induced craving task (ORT patients only), an Implicit Association Task (IAT), and two social perception tasks: the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (RMET) and The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT). Oxytocin was well tolerated by patients receiving ORT but had no significant effects on craving or IAT scores. There was a significant reduction in RMET performance after oxytocin administration versus placebo in the patient group only, and a significant reduction in TASIT performance after oxytocin in both the patient and healthy control groups. A single dose of intranasal oxytocin is well tolerated by patients receiving ORT, paving the way for future investigations. Despite no significant improvement in craving or IAT scores after a single dose of oxytocin and some evidence that social perception was worsened, further investigation is required to determine the role oxytocin may play in the treatment of opioid use disorder. Methadone Oxytocin Option. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01728909.

Theory of Mind in Patients with Epilepsy: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

The ability to understand our own thoughts, intentions, beliefs and emotions and those of others (Theory of Mind; ToM) is a high-order social cognitive skill that is vital for social interaction and which has been found to be impaired in patients with epilepsy. Studies examining ToM in patients with epilepsy, however, have yielded inconsistent findings. The main aim of this study is to determine whether the magnitude of ToM deficits varies as a function of the site of epilepsy focus and/or the type of ToM task used. Electronic databases searches included Psychinfo, Medline/PubMed and EMBASE. Studies were included if they examined a group of patients with epilepsy and a group of healthy controls, reported original research, were published in the English language in peer reviewed journals, and used one of five empirically validated measures of ToM: False Belief, Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (RMET), Faux-pas, Strange Stories, Cartoon ToM vignettes. Twelve studies were identified, ten included adults and two included children with epilepsy. Findings revealed marked ToM deficits in adults with focal seizures emanating from core brain regions underpinning ToM: temporal and frontal lobes (frontal lobe epilepsy, FLE; temporal lobe epilepsy, TLE), but not in adults with focal seizures outside the temporal and frontal lobes (extra-TLE/FLE). ToM deficits were also observed in children with generalised seizures (idiopathic generalised epilepsy, IGE). ToM deficits were documented across ToM tasks. In conclusion, ToM deficits represent a robust finding in adults with frontal and temporal epilepsy, but are also found in children with generalised seizures. Further research into ToM is needed, especially in children with epilepsy as early ToM may have cumulative, negative effects on development of social skills that continues into adulthood.

Is Empathizing intuitive and Systemizing deliberative?

This is the first study to explore the relationship between Empathizing–Systemizing (E–S) theory that provides an account of sex differences in human cognition and dual process theories of cognition. 68 Undergraduates undertook both performance and self-report assessments of Empathizing, intuition, Systemizing and deliberation. A fast (500ms) and slow (5000ms) version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (RMET) was included to explore the effects of rapid presentation on emotional stimuli. Consistent with E–S theory, sex differences were found in Empathizing (favouring females) and Systemizing (favouring males). Females were also found to be more intuitive and males more deliberative for performance, but not self-report, assessments of intuition and deliberation. Empathizing significantly positively correlated with intuition and negatively with deliberation. Conversely, Systemizing significantly positively correlated with deliberation and negatively with intuition (trend). This pattern was replicated in a study of 65 participants from the general population. The exception was the RMET which had no significant sex differences or correlates (fast or slow). The implications for considering both dual process theories of cognition and E–S theory are discussed, with a focus upon the implications for Autism Spectrum Disorder and psychosis.