Social Cognition In Patients Research Articles

Introducing a new social cognition online therapy: SoCoBo

ABSTRACT Integrating technology-based therapies into existing treatment approaches has proven useful in the endeavour to improve impaired social cognition in patients with neurological diseases. To this end, we present a novel online-based therapy programme for the treatment of impairments of social cognition (“SoCoBo”), particularly tailored for patients with acquired brain injuries (ABIs). This study was designed to investigate the online therapy's feasibility including processing time and acceptability in a healthy older sample as, according to previous studies, older individuals show subtle impairments of social cognition. Between 50 and 52 participants (depending on outcome measures) underwent pre–post assessments, completed one out of three therapy modules (emotion recognition, perspective taking, social problem-solving) over a period of four weeks (four sessions per week) and evaluated the therapy concerning feasibility, acceptability and content aspects with a newly developed questionnaire. All modules showed comparable ratings on a low to moderate level in terms of feasibility, acceptability and content aspects, which seems plausible due to the sample under investigation. Processing time of the three modules was comparable for psychoeducation (mean 17.45 min) and training sessions (mean 21.91 min). The results provided important indications for necessary adjustments regarding a subsequently completed randomized controlled trial involving patients with ABIs.

Atypical social cognition processing in bulimia nervosa: an fMRI study of patients thinking of others' mental states.

Feeding and eating disorders are severe mental disorders that gravely affect patients' lives. In particular, patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN) appear to have poor social cognition. Many studies have shown the relationship between poor social cognition and brain responses in AN. However, few studies have examined the relationship between social cognition and BN. Therefore, we examined which brain regions impact the ability for social cognition in patients with BN. We used task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain responses during a social cognition task and the Reading Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). During the fMRI, 22 women with BN and 22 healthy women (HW) took the RMET. Participants also completed the eating disorder clinical measures Bulimic Investigatory Test, Edinburgh (BITE) and Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) measure of depression; and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) measure of anxiety. No difference was observed in the RMET scores between women with BN and HW. Both groups showed activation in brain regions specific to social cognition. During the task, no differences were shown between the groups in the BOLD signal (p < 0.05, familywise error correctedfor multiple comparisons). However, there was a tendency of more robust activation in the right angular gyrus, ventral diencephalon, thalamus proper, temporal pole, and middle temporal gyrus in BN (p < 0.001, uncorrectedfor multiple comparisons). Moreover, HW showed a positive correlation between RMET scores and the activation of two regions: medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC); however, no significant correlation was observed in women with BN. While activation in the mPFC and ACC positively correlated to the RMET scores in HW, no correlation was observed in BN patients. Therefore, women with BN might display modulated neural processing when thinking of others' mental states. Further examination is needed to investigate neural processing in BN patients to better understand their social cognition abilities. UMIN, UMIN000010220. Registered 13 March 2013, https://rctportal.niph.go.jp/s/detail/um?trial_id=UMIN000010220.

Investigating the impact of psychedelic drugs on social cognition defects: A scoping review protocol.

Impairments in social cognition are known to be a key factor in several psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. Interest in psychedelic drugs has increased in recent years, with significant research identifying psychedelic and hallucinogenic drugs as modulators of social cognition. However, more research is necessary before psychedelics are implemented in clinical settings as treatments for social cognition defects. Therefore, this study describes a scoping review protocol which will be used to analyze the body of literature on psychedelic drugs as modulators of social cognition in patients with psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. This scoping review protocol was developed using the JBI Scoping Review Methodology Group's description of how to conduct a scoping review. The guidelines identified by this group as well as a search strategy developed with the assistance of a research librarian will be applied to a search of several peer-reviewed journals, including MEDLINE (Ovid), PsycINFO, EMBASE (Elsevier), and Scopus (Elsevier). Each study extracted will be screened in a two-step screening process, including a title and abstract screen, and a full-text screen. One independent individual will complete both steps of the screening, and a second independent individual will review the completed screening. An understanding of the current literature on psychedelic drugs as modulators of social cognition will provide insight into what is presently known on the subject, and any gaps in the literature that can be addressed in future studies. The knowledge gained from this scoping review could lead to a new treatment for social cognition defects in clinical populations.

37 Assessment of Social Cognition in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Objective:Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a persistent neuroinflammatory disease of the central nervous system that affects young adults, and is pathologically characterized by multiple and distributed focal white matter lesions, although they are characteristically located in periventricular regions. Cognitive impairment occurs in all clinical forms of the disease, with great variability and great impact on the quality of life of patients. Recent research indicates that in addition to cognitive and physical deficits, they also have deficits in social cognition, such as Theory of Mind. Although social cognition in patients with multiple sclerosis has begun to be studied in recent years, there is still little knowledge about its impact in the early stages of the disease, when the load of injuries is low and physical disability is not yet present. A series of 7 cases of patients diagnosed with MS in follow-up by the Multiple Sclerosis polyclinic of the Institute of Neurology of the Hospital de Clínicas is presented.Participants and Methods:Clinically stable patients with no recent urges and no cognitive complaint were included. They were evaluated with the ACE-R screening test and Theory of Mind tests: Reading the mind in the eyes and Faux Pas tests.Results:All patients presented normal ACE results, without indicators of cognitive impairment and poor performance in the emotion reading test. In two cases, poor yields in Faux Pas were also found.Conclusions:Social cognition has a great impact on quality of life, and there are indicators of involvement in early stages of the disease in which other typical cognitive deficits are not yet evident, and may constitute the first indicator of deterioration. The evaluation and early detection of deficits in social cognition could contribute to the treatment and quality of life of patients.

Neurological Soft Signs and Social Cognition in Patients with Schizophrenia: the Missing Link

Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental disorder characterised by a pronounced decline in mental, physical, and social functioning. Our study aims to investigate the relationship between the socio-cognitive and the subtle motor and sensory symptoms of schizophrenia, which are, respectively, represented by facial emotion recognition deficits (FERD) and neurological soft signs (NSS). Thus, we assessed 60 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. FERD was measured with the “Averaged Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces” set, and NSS was assessed with the Neurological Evaluation Scale. A strong and significant negative correlation was found between the NSS total score and the FERD total score (r = –0.7, p &lt; 0.001). There was also a significant negative correlation between several of the subscores of both instruments. The results show that impaired social cognition is significantly associated with soft neurological disturbances in patients suffering from schizophrenia. Taken together, this reinforces the notion that schizophrenia is characterised by dysfunction and disconnection of a complex cerebral network, which can probably be influenced by psychosocial and physical nonpharmacological therapeutic interventions.

Mediation Effects of Social Cognition on the Relationship between Neurocognition and Social Functioning in Major Depressive Disorder and Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders.

In schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD), social cognition mediates the relationship between neurocognition and social functioning. Although people with major depressive disorder (MDD) also exhibit cognitive impairments, which are often prolonged, little is known about the role of social cognition in MDD. Using data obtained through an internet survey, 210 patients with SSD or MDD were selected using propensity score matching based on their demographics and illness duration. Social cognition, neurocognition, and social functioning were evaluated using the Self-Assessment of Social Cognition Impairments, Perceived Deficits Questionnaire, and Social Functioning Scale, respectively. The mediation effects of social cognition on the relationship between neurocognition and social functioning were examined in each group. Invariances of the mediation model across the two groups were then analyzed. The SSD and MDD groups had mean ages of 44.49 and 45.35 years, contained 42.0% and 42.8% women, and had mean illness durations of 10.76 and 10.45 years, respectively. In both groups, social cognition had significant mediation effects. Configural, measurement, and structural invariances across the groups were established. The role of social cognition in patients with MDD was similar to that in SSD. Social cognition could be a common endophenotype for various psychiatric disorders.

Feasibility and Efficacy of the Cogmed Working Memory Training in Forensic Mental Health Inpatients With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Study

Introduction Schizophrenia spectrum disorders are characterised by notable deficits in executive function, working memory, attention and social cognition. Previous studies in cognitive remediation therapies, of various dose and duration, have shown behavioural and neurobiological improvements. The current pilot study will be the first to test the Cogmed Working Memory Training (CWMT) program in schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Methods This pilot study was conducted using purposive sampling of consumers with schizophrenia spectrum disorders from a forensic mental health inpatient unit in Australia was used. Eleven participants completed 30 sessions of CWMT over a 2-month period. One participant completed 28 sessions. The primary outcome measure was the CogState Schizophrenia Battery (CSB). Secondary measures included the Brock Adaptive Functioning Questionnaire (BAFQ) and the Allen Cognitive Level Screen (ACLS). Measures were taken before and after the intervention, and at 6-months follow-up to detect maintenance of improvements. Results Significant improvements were seen in social cognition and emotionality. Trends toward improvement in executive function and working memory were observed in younger participants, but were not significant. Conclusion Findings indicate that the CWMT may be a beneficial tool for improving social cognition in patients with schizophrenia. CWMT interventions of longer than 2 months may be required to see measurable improvements in other cognitive functions. Age-related cognitive impairment should be controlled for in future studies. Larger studies should be conducted to confirm these findings.

Effect of Electroconvulsive Therapy on brain networks associated with social cognition in patients with refractory schizophrenia -A case control study

Effect of Electroconvulsive Therapy on brain networks associated with social cognition in patients with refractory schizophrenia -A case control study

The Neural Correlates of the Recognition of Emotional Intensity Deficits in Major Depression: An ERP Study.

Deficits in facial emotional intensity recognition have been associated with social cognition in patients with major depression. The study examined multiple event-related potential (ERP) components in patients with major depression and investigated the relationships between ERPs, social cognition, and clinical features. Thirty-one patients met DSM-IV diagnosis of depression and 31 healthy participants completed the emotion intensity recognition task (EIRT), while ERPs were recorded. Data on ERP components (P100, N170, P200, and P300) were analyzed. The behavioral results showed that patients with major depression performed worse on EIRT, including all six categories of emotions (sadness, disgust, happiness, surprise, anger, and fear), compared to healthy participants. The ERP results showed that patients with major depression exhibited higher P100 amplitudes for sad and happy faces than healthy participants; P300 amplitudes induced by sad and surprise faces were also higher than in healthy participants, mainly in the central and temporal lobes. A positive correlation was found between sadness intensity scores and P100 amplitudes in patients with major depression. Patients with major depression are biased in their identification of facial expressions indicating emotional intensity. Specifically, they have emotional biases in the early and late stages of cognitive processing, mainly in the form of sensitivity to sad stimuli. It may lead to a persistent rumination of sadness that is detrimental to the remission of depression. Additionally, patients with major depression devote different amounts of cognitive resources for different intensities of sad faces during the preconscious stage of cognitive processing. The more intense their perception of sadness, the more cognitive resources they devote. Therefore, the assessment of the intensity of facial expressions is an important research topic, with clinical implications on social cognitive function in patients with major depression.

The forgotten affective route of social cognition in patients with bipolar disorders

Social cognition (SC) research in bipolar disorders (BD) has provided evidence about deficits in different phases of the illness. Most of the studies have focused on two aspects of SC: theory of mind and emotion recognition. However, according to influential models of social neuroscience, two aspects of understanding others need to be distinguished: the cognitive (theory of mind and emotion recognition) and the affective route (empathy and compassion) of SC. We aimed to determine whether individuals with BD significantly differ from healthy controls on measures of the affective route of SC according to the available evidence. We conduct a narrative review of original research based on a social neuroscience model of SC. BD is associated with alterations of the affective route of SC during acute episodes and remission. During mania and subthreshold depression, an increase in empathy (“over-empathizing”) and discomfort (empathy) has been reported, respectively. A pattern of high empathic distress and low compassion appears during remission. This article is the first to review the evidence on the affective route of SC in BD, revealing trait and state alterations. We emphasize the need to consider this affective dimension of SC in future research, to design more specific interventions in BD patients.

Social cognition in developmental and adult-onset amnesia: a multiple case-control study

Memory disorders due to medial temporal lobe lesions are well documented, but studies on social cognition in patients with amnesia are rare. This study examined social cognitive functioning in three adult amnesic patients. We report on the neurocognitive and social cognitive profiles of two patients with developmental amnesia and a patient with adult-onset amnesia, all due to hypoxic events. All cases were compared to their individual IQ-matched control groups. Both cases with developmental amnesia showed notable deficits in tasks assessing emotion recognition and theory of mind. In comparison, the patient with adult-onset amnesia showed less severe and more circumscribed impairment in social cognition. Our findings suggest that social cognition is at serious risk in patients with amnesia. The deficits may be more pronounced in developmental amnesia with hippocampal lesions than in adult-onset amnesia. Our findings highlight the importance of examining social cognitive functions in patients with memory impairment to assess the need for therapeutic interventions and counselling of patients and their relatives.

Efficacy of metacognitive training on symptom severity, neurocognition and social cognition in patients with schizophrenia: A single-blind randomized controlled trial.

Over the past decades, a number of complementary treatments for schizophrenia have emerged. One of these is metacognitive training (MCT), which combines the principles of cognitive‐behavioral therapies, cognitive remediation, and psychoeducation into a hybrid approach placing emphasis on increasing metacognitive awareness. The aim of our study was to investigate the efficacy of MCT on symptom severity, and neurocognitive and social cognitive functioning in schizophrenia; also, attention was paid to the assessment of subjective acceptability. Forty‐six patients diagnosed with schizophrenia were included in our single‐blind randomized controlled trial, who were assigned to the intervention or control group. The intervention group was provided standard MCT, while the control group received treatment as usual. We assessed symptom severity and cognitive functions before and after the training, as well as after a 6‐month follow‐up period. Compared to the control group, the intervention group showed improvement in overall symptom severity, and positive and disorganized symptoms. Training participans showed further improvement at the follow‐up assessment. Regarding neurocognitive functions, improvement in visuospatial functions was observed between pre‐ and post‐intervention assessments compared to the control group. Patients showed excellent adherence, and evaluated the training as useful and interesting. In line with the results of previous studies, our results demonstrate the efficacy of MCT on symptom severity in schizophrenia. Improvements in cognitive functions that are closely related to the onset and prevalence of symptoms of schizophrenia were also found.

A Review of the Correlation between Glutamate Levels and Social Cognition in Patients with Schizophrenia

精神分裂症；社会认知；谷氨酸；磁共振波谱成像

Neurocognition and social cognition in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders with and without a history of violence: results of a multinational European study

ObjectiveNeurocognitive impairment has been extensively studied in people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and seems to be one of the major determinants of functional outcome in this clinical population. Data exploring the link between neuropsychological deficits and the risk of violence in schizophrenia has been more inconsistent. In this study, we analyse the differential predictive potential of neurocognition and social cognition to discriminate patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders with and without a history of severe violence.MethodsOverall, 398 (221 cases and 177 controls) patients were recruited in forensic and general psychiatric settings across five European countries and assessed using a standardized battery.ResultsEducation and processing speed were the strongest discriminators between forensic and non-forensic patients, followed by emotion recognition. In particular, increased accuracy for anger recognition was the most distinctive feature of the forensic group.ConclusionsThese results may have important clinical implications, suggesting potential enhancements of the assessment and treatment of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders with a history of violence, who may benefit from consideration of socio-cognitive skills commonly neglected in ordinary clinical practice.

Biological Bases of Empathy and Social Cognition in Patients with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Focus on Treatment with Psychostimulants.

In recent years, there has been growing interest in investigating the effect of specific pharmacological treatments for ADHD not only on its core symptoms, but also on social skills in youths. This stands especially true for ADHD patients displaying impulsive aggressiveness and antisocial behaviors, being the comorbidity with Disruptive Behavior Disorders, one of the most frequently observed in clinical settings. This systematic review aimed to synthesize research findings on this topic following PRISMA guidelines and to identify gaps in current knowledge, future directions, and treatment implications. Search strategies included the following terms: ADHD; methylphenidate and other ADHD drugs; empathy, theory of mind and emotion recognition. Full-text articles were retrieved and data from individual studies were collected. Thirteen studies were finally included in our systematic review. Ten studies assessing changes in empathy and/or theory of mind in patients with ADHD treated after pharmacological interventions were identified. Similarly, seven partially overlapping studies assessing changes in emotion recognition were retrieved. Despite a great heterogeneity in the methodological characteristics of the included studies, most of them reported an improvement in emphatic and theory of mind abilities in youths with ADHD treated with psychostimulants and nonstimulant drugs, as well as positive but less consistent results about emotion recognition performances.

Face processing of social cognition in patients with first episode psychosis: Its deficits and association with the right subcallosal anterior cingulate cortex

The clinical importance of social cognition is well acknowledged in patients with psychosis, in particular those with first episode psychosis (FEP). Nevertheless, its brain substrates and circuitries remain elusive, lacking precise analysis between multimodal brain characteristics and behavioral sub-dimensions within social cognition. In the present study, we examined face processing of social cognition in 71 FEP patients and 77 healthy controls (HCs). We looked for a possible correlation between face processing and multimodal MRI characteristics such as resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) and brain volume. We observed worse recognition accuracy, longer recognition response time, and longer memory response time in FEP patients when compared with HCs. Of these, memory response time was selectively correlated with specific rsFCs, which included the right subcallosal sub-region of BA24 in the ACC (scACC), only in FEP patients. The volume of this region was also correlated with memory response time in FEP patients. The scACC is functionally and structurally important in FEP-associated abnormalities of face processing measures in social cognition.

Social Cognition in Patients with Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Dementia of the Alzheimer Type.

Social cognition (SC) is a core criterion for neurocognitive disorders. However, findings in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) are inconsistent. We report assessments of emotion recognition (ER), affective and cognitive theory of mind (ToM) in young (YC) and older controls (OC) compared to aMCI and DAT. 28 aMCI, 30 DAT, 30 YC, and 29 OC received tests of SC and a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Analysis of covariance was used to determine group differences. Multiple regression models were applied to identify predictors for each SC task. In controls, OC performed worse in ER and both ToM tasks compared to YC except for one subtest. No significant differences were found between OC and patients concerning ER and affective ToM. In cognitive ToM, differences between OC and patients depended on content and cognitive load with significant impairment in DAT compared to OC. A cognitive composite score predicted SC in OC, but not in patients. Associations of SC with single cognitive domains were found in all groups with language and complex attention as best predictors. Not all variance of SC performance was explained by variance in cognitive domains. Lower performance on SC tasks in OC versus YC was confirmed, although not all tasks were equally affected. With progressive cognitive impairment, cognitive ToM is more impaired than ER or affective ToM. SC seems to be at least partly independent of other cognitive domains, justifying its inclusion in batteries for dementia diagnostic.

Unstructured Group Support Enhances Compliance to Pharmacological Treatment by Improving Social Cognition in Patients with Bipolar Disorder: A Pilot fMRI Study.

Unstructured group support (UGS) has been shown to improve the prognosis of patients with bipolar disorder (BP). However, objective evidence is needed to support implementation of UGS intervention. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of UGS intervention and the associated alterations in the objective indexes, mainly global function connectivity density (gFCD), in BP patients. Remitted BP patients were enrolled and randomly assigned into a UGS group (received UGS intervention for 26 weekly UGS sessions, and a sham group (received sham intervention). The effects of UGS on adherence to the prescribed medications, social cognition, and quality of life were examined and compared between these 2 groups. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed to determine the functional index and gFCD values, as an objective measurement of functional alterations in the brain. The compliance rate was significantly greater in the UGS group than in the sham group at the 2-year follow-up, after 26 weekly intervention sessions. The proportion of patients with increased levels of compliance to pharmacological treatment, improved social cognition, and improved quality of life were significantly higher in the UGS group than in the sham group. Furthermore, consistent with these subjective measurements, the fMRI study revealed that gFCD values significantly increased in the regions of the brain that are related to social cognition, in patients with UGS intervention. UGS improves the compliance to pharmacological treatment, quality of life, and social cognition of remitted BP patients. Notably, these findings offer the first objective evidence that UGS enhances gFCD in BP patients. Thus, UGS implementation can help improve the psychiatric care for BP patients.

The effectiveness of metacognitive training on impairments in social cognition in patients with schizophrenia: mental health nursing practice in a community mental health center

Background Social cognition is an independent structure from the positive symptoms of schizophrenia and contributes to negative symptoms, neurocognitive impairment, and social functioning. Aim To examine the effectiveness of the metacognitive training intervention on social cognition in people with schizophrenia. Design This study was conducted as a randomized quasi-experimental (pre-test/post-test and follow-up) design with a control group. Methods Thirty-nine patients with schizophrenia were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the control group (n = 19) or the metacognitive training group (n = 20). A 10-week metacognitive training program was offered to the intervention group. The study involved a pre-test/post-test design with a 3-month follow-up assessment. The primary outcome was social cognition, as measured by the Facial Emotion Discrimination/Identification Tests, Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, and Attributional Style Questionnaire. The secondary outcome was measured by the metacognitive training subjective efficacy form. Results Completion at follow-up was high (92.3%). The results show that the changes over time in the False Belief Task 1st level, Attributional Style Questionnaire negative events global-specific dimension, and positive events stable-unstable dimension mean scores, time interaction, were statistically significant. Metacognitive Training was efficacious on the theory of mind and in performing more functional attributions. Patients in the intervention group showed high-level positive feedback. Conclusion Metacognitive Training applied by psychiatric and mental health nurses demonstrated a user and practitioner-friendly, safe and effective program on social cognition. Also, the social and cultural feasibility and effectiveness of the Metacognitive Training program were shown for the first time in a Turkish population.

Social Cognition in Patients With Cerebellar Neurodegenerative Disorders.

ObjectiveCerebellar neurodegenerative disorders (CDs) are a heterogeneous group of disorders. It is known that the cerebellum plays a role not only in motor, but also in cognitive and social cognitive functions. The aim of this study was to investigate social cognition in patients with different CDs.Materials and MethodsSocial cognition was examined in 34 patients, 12 with spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1), 6 with spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2), and 16 with idiopathic late onset cerebellar ataxia (ILOCA). All patients were clinically evaluated using the Scale for the Rating and Assessment of Ataxia. In addition, 34 age, sex, and education-matched healthy control (HC) subjects were similarly analyzed. Social cognition was studied using two tests: the Faux Pas Recognition Test and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). An appropriate array of neuropsychological tests was used to assess the global cognitive status as well as the frontal functions and mood.ResultsCD patients achieved significantly worse results on both tests of social cognition compared to the HCs. The SCA1 + 2 group achieved the poorest results on the Faux Pas Recognition Test and exhibited poor performance on all cognitive tests, but was only significantly worse compared to the ILOCA group on the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT) – recognition. The patients in the SCA1 + 2 and ILOCA groups obtained similar scores on RMET. In the SCA1 + 2 group the findings significantly correlated with clinical parameters of disease severity and duration and executive functions (EFs), and with mood and executive functions in the ILOCA group. In the SCA group EFs appeared as the only significant predictor of RMET achievement. The Boston Naming Test (BTN) was a significant predictor of the CD patients’ achievement on RMET, while the BTN, the Trail Making Test Part A and FCSRT – Delayed free recall predicted their performance on the Faux Pas Recognition Test.ConclusionPatients with CD have social cognitive impairments as demonstrated by the Faux Pas Test and the RMET test results. The SCA1 and 2 patients exhibited a more pronounced impairment compared with the ILOCA patients. The independent cognitive predictors of social cognition impairment were EFs and language.