ToM Deficits Research Articles

Dissecting neural correlates of theory of mind and executive functions in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia

Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is characterized by profound and early deficits in social cognition (SC) and executive functions (EF). To date it remains unclear whether deficits of the respective cognitive domains are based on the degeneration of distinct brain regions. In 103 patients with a diagnosis of bvFTD (possible/probable/definite: N = 40/58/5) from the frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) consortium Germany cohort (age 62.5±9.4 years, gender 38 female/65 male) we applied multimodal structural imaging, i.e. voxel-based morphometry, cortical thickness (CTH) and networks of structural covariance via source based morphometry. We cross-sectionally investigated associations with performance in a modified Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET; reflective of theory of mind - ToM) and five different tests reflective of EF (i.e. Hamasch-Five-Point Test, semantic and phonemic Fluency, Trail Making Test, Stroop interference). Finally, we investigated the conjunction of RMET correlates with functional networks commonly associated with SC respectively ToM and EF as extracted meta-analytically within the Neurosynth database. RMET performance was mainly associated with gray matter volume (GMV) and CTH within temporal and insular cortical regions and less within the prefrontal cortex (PFC), whereas EF performance was mainly associated with prefrontal regions (GMV and CTH). Overlap of RMET and EF associations was primarily located within the insula, adjacent subcortical structures (i.e. putamen) and the dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC). These patterns were more pronounced after adjustment for the respective other cognitive domain. Corroborative results were obtained in analyses of structural covariance networks. Overlap of RMET with meta-analytically extracted functional networks commonly associated with SC, ToM and EF was again primarily located within the temporal and insular region and the dlPFC. In addition, on a meta-analytical level, strong associations were found for temporal cortical RMET correlates with SC and ToM in particular. These data indicate a temporo-frontal dissociation of bvFTD related disturbances of ToM and EF, with atrophy of the anterior temporal lobe being critically involved in ToM deficits. The consistent overlap within the insular cortex may be attributable to the multimodal and integrative role of this region in socioemotional and cognitive processing.

Cognitive and emotional theory of mind in dementia. Impact on real life behaviors

AbstractBackgroundTheory of mind (ToM) is a core cognitive process that allows regular socioemotional interaction in everyday life. ToM deficits may explain some essential behavior alterations in dementia, particularly in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). This study aimed to (1) identify ToM differences across dementia syndromes and (2) determine if ToM scores predict neuropsychiatric function.MethodWe evaluated 304 participants (age 64.07±9.2) divided into six groups (healthy control, NC = 41; AD = 34; behavioral variant FTD = 96; semantic aphasia; svPPA = 38, nonfluent aphasia; nfvPPA = 47, and progressive supranuclear palsy; PSP = 48) using the UCSF Emotional and Cognitive ToM Test on the TabCAT platform and comprehensive neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric testing. Pa Patients were early in their disease (Clinical Dementia Rating: 0.80±0.53). We compared ToM between groups and used regression models controlling by age and sex to determine if ToM predicted neuropsychiatric symptoms.ResultCognitive ToM was impaired in AD, bvFTD, svPPA, and PSP (p<0.0001), and all groups had impaired emotional ToM (p<0.0001). Both cToM and eToM performance predicted a real‐life neuropsychiatric behavior syndrome, including anxiety, apathy, disinhibition, and aberrant motor subscales scores on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory questionnaire, even after controlling for the influence of bvFTD diagnosis.ConclusionCognitive and Emotional ToM are affected early in diverse dementia syndromes, and impaired ToM test performance can predict a real‐life neuropsychiatric behavior. Assessment of ToM and other aspects of social cognition can be beneficial for the early identification of behavioral alterations in dementia cases.

Psychopathology and Theory of Mind in patients with personality disorders

ObjectivePeople with mental disorders frequently suffer from deficits in the ability to infer other’s mental states (Theory of Mind; ToM). Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) show ToM deficits characterized by exceeding ToM (over-attributions of mental states). The present study analyzed associations between ToM, BPD severity, and depression severity in patients with BPD and other personality disorders.MethodWe analyzed ToM abilities in 128 patients with BPD and 82 patients with ‘mixed and other personality disorders’ (MOPD). MOPD are diagnosed if symptoms of multiple personality disorders are present without any set of symptoms being dominant enough to allow a specific diagnosis. We used the movies for the assessment of social cognition (MASC) to measure ToM abilities, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to assess severity of depression and the McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI-BPD) to assess the severity of BPD symptoms.ResultsBoth symptoms of BPD and depression were associated with exceeding ToM in separate regressions. Using a stepwise regression, only the association of depression severity with exceeding ToM was reliable. Patients with BPD and MOPD did not differ in exceeding ToM. Age was most reliably associated with ToM.ConclusionThe results imply that exceeding ToM is associated with general psychopathology instead of BPD-symptoms in specific. Patients with MOPD show deficits similar to BPD patients.

Assessing the construct validity of a theory of mind battery adapted to Tunisian school-aged children.

Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability to understand others' states of mind, desires, emotions, beliefs, and intentions to predict the content of their mental representations. Two major dimensions within ToM have been studied. The first is the type of inferred mental state, which can be cognitive or affective. The second comprises the types of processes involved according to their degree of complexity (first- and second-order false belief and advanced ToM). ToM acquisition is fundamental-a key component in the development of everyday human social interactions. ToM deficits have been reported in various neurodevelopmental disorders through various tools assessing disparate facets of social cognition. Nevertheless, Tunisian practitioners and researchers lack a linguistically and culturally appropriate psychometric tool for ToM assessment among school-aged children. To assess the construct validity of a translated and adapted French ToM Battery for Arabic-speaking Tunisian school-aged children. The focal ToM Battery was designed with neuropsychological and neurodevelopmental theory and composed of 10 subtests distributed evenly in three parts: Pre-conceptual, cognitive, and affective ToM. Translated and adapted to the Tunisian sociocultural context, this ToM battery was individually administered to 179 neurotypical Tunisian children (90 girls and 89 boys) aged 7-12 years. After controlling for the age effect, construct validity was empirically confirmed on two dimensions (cognitive and affective) via structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, demonstrating that this solution has a good fit. The results confirmed that the age affected differentially the performance obtained on ToM tasks based on the two components of the battery. Our findings confirm that the Tunisian version of the ToM Battery has robust construct validity for the assessment of cognitive and affective ToM in Tunisian school-aged children; hence, it could be adopted in clinical and research settings.

Assessment of Theory of Mind in Psychopathology: a Scoping Review

IntroductionTheory of Mind (ToM) is defined as the cognitive ability that infers other’s mental states (Premack & Woodruff. J Behav Brain Sci 1978; 1 515-526).The interest in the study of ToM distinguishing its affective and cognitive components has been growing. Its study in psychopathology has been evolved from its original studies in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), schizophrenia (SCZ) and, borderline personality disorder (BPD), to other mental disorders like major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder (BP), anorexia nervosa (AN) and social anxiety disorder (SAD).Objectives1) review the most commonly used instruments for ToM assessment; 2) to compile the evidence on ToM deficits across mental disorders. For both objectives, target disorders are previously mentioned.MethodsThe search was carried out on the PubMed, PsycInfo and Scopus databases, using the terms “Theory of mind”, “Mentalization” and the previously mentioned mental disorders and pertinent thesaurus. Articles in English, published since 2010 were considered. A 2-step strategy (first, article screening and full reading) was followed to select articles of interest.ResultsReading the Mind in the Eyes (Baron-Cohen et al., J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2001; 42 241-251) and Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (Dziobeck et al. J Autism Dev Disord 2006; 36 623-636) were the most commonly used tasks to assess ToM. Regarding mental disorders, studies showed deficits in cognitive and affective ToM skills in ASD, SCZ, BPD, MDD and BP. Hypomentalization was mainly observed in ASD and MDD, while BPD and SCZ were featured by errors associated with hypermentalization. Studies in AN and SAD are scarce, but they mainly highlight a cognitive ToM deficit, with hypomentalization in AN and hypermentalization in ASD. In all of them, depressive symptomatology seems to be a critical moderator of ToM performance.ConclusionsAlthough ToM impairments are well described for some mental disorders, more research is needed to reach solid conclusions for others. The use of different and heterogeneous ToM assessment instruments can strongly influence the results of studies. The study of ToM is essential to gain a better understanding of the diseases and to develop effective treatments targeting specific ToM deficits.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Language Disorder of Autism In ‘Atypical’ Series (2017-2021): A Psycholinguistics Study

The purpose of this study is to recognize what kind of language disorder experienced by Sam as an autistic in ‘Atypical’ series 2017-2021, to describe what factors of language disorder experienced by Sam, and to describe what therapy of language disorder for Sam. The researcher uses qualitative method for doing this research. The data was taken from the utterances of autistic, Sam Gardner as the main character. There were 60 phenomenon of language disorder, 58 receptive language disorder and 2 expressive language disorder. The most common symptom of receptive language disorder experienced by Sam is difficulty following verbal directions 21 data, followed by interpreting words or phrases 19 data, not appearing to listen 12 data, limited vocabulary 3 data, difficulty understanding complex sentence 2 data, and demonstrating lack of interest 1 data. Meanwhile, Sam just experienced two symptoms of expressive language disorder, word-finding difficulties 1 data and over-reliance on stock phrases 1 data. This phenomenon occurs caused by many factors, whether difficulty in joint attention, failed in integrated the information with semantic attributes, autism symptoms such as echolalia, deficits in ToM, trouble in retrieval words, etc.

AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN THEORY OF MIND: A TIME-VARYING FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY APPROACH

Abstract Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the act of inferring someone’s inner state, such as their emotions and thoughts. Previous work also demonstrated that ToM performance declines across age, but the mechanisms underlying this are not well-understood. The brain regions underlying ToM are generally in the default mode network (DMN) – a group of brain regions particularly vulnerable to pathological aging. Recent work suggests that declines in functional connectivity (FC; correlations between brain regions) during resting state (a period of undirected thought) predict age deficits in ToM. However, these findings come from aggregated FC, ignoring potentially informative details of dynamic changes during resting state. Researching these details may provide more specificity related to social cognitive aging. To test this, 35 older adults (OA; M = 75.61; 22 female) and 40 young adults (YA; M = 21.58; 25 female) underwent resting state and task-based fMRI. During the task, they completed a standard ToM task. We conducted time-varying functional connectivity analyses in the DMN to identify dynamic changes over time. Overall, OA had more variability than YA, but variability benefitted YAs, and not OAs. This occurred specifically in a DMN subnetwork associated with contextual information in memory. These results suggest that variability is useful, but only to an extent. With respect to ToM, variability may promote how YA integrate contextual information to memory, but is ineffective for OA.

Theory of Mind Deficits in Bipolar Disorder in Remission

AimsTheory of mind (ToM) is the ability to represent one's own and other's mental state. Studies in bipolar affective disorder show mixed results possible due to confounding factors like intelligence, attention, phase of illness and current mood. Purpose of this study is to study ToM in remittent bipolar disorder patients and compare with normal controls to find if there are residual deficits during remissionMethods40 bipolar patients in remission and 40 age and sex matched controls were recruited. Clinical remission for 3 months with YMRS <4 and HAM-D <7 was inclusion criteria. ToM was assessed by Faux Pas test. Data were analysed using SPSS-11.5 for Windows with parametric and non-parametric tests as indicated. Level of significance taken as p < 0.05 (two tailed).ResultsMean age of onset of illness in patient group was 23.8 years with duration of illness 11.3 years. Mean number of episodes 6.7 and duration of remission 4.15 months. ToM test result revealed deficit in recognizing social cues in faux pas test by bipolar patients as compared to normal controls. There was no difference between both groups in test result on control stories.ConclusionResults suggest that ToM deficits are present in bipolar disorder patients even during apparent clinical remission, indicating it may be a trait marker of the illness. There is no deficit in understanding a regular social context without faux pas. It also revealed that there is no correlation with ToM and duration of illness

The investigation of implicit Theory of Mind in patients with schizophrenia – a whole brain fMRI study

IntroductionTheory of Mind is the ability to attribute mental states to others. Investigations have distinguished implicit and explicit forms of ToM. It is known, that patients with schizoprenia have deficits in their explicit ToM, and they also show altered brain activations during examining explicit ToM.ObjectivesIn this study our aim was to investigate the underlying neural substrates of implicit ToM in patients with schizophrenia with fMRI.MethodsSeven healthy subjects and two patients with first episode schizophrenia were involved. We used: false belief condition and control condition. All movies consisted of a belief formation phase and an outcome phase. The belief formation phase started with an agent placing a ball on a table in front of an occluder. Then the ball rolled behind the occluder. The movies could continue in different ways leading to a true or false belief. At the end of each movie, the agent reentered the scene and the occluder was lowered. In the outcome phase the ball was either present or absent behind the occluder. The control conditions started with a ball rolled behind the occluder on a table ended up with two different ways as the ball was either present or absent behind the occluder. There was no agent in the control movies.ResultsWe found that healthy subjects activated significantly stronger the left lingual gyrus as well as the right temporoparietal junction.ConclusionsOur findings suggest deficits in implicit ToM in schizophrenia and our findings also might help to clarify the underlying neural substrates of implicit ToM.DisclosureThis research project was supported by the KTIA-13-NAP-A-II/12 (2018–2022) and the Hungarian National Excellence Centrum Grant 2018–2019.

The Role of Hub and Spoke Regions in Theory of Mind in Early Alzheimer's Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia.

Theory of mind (ToM, the ability to attribute mental states to others) deficit is a frequent finding in neurodegenerative conditions, mediated by a diffuse brain network confirmed by 18F-FDG-PET and MR imaging, involving frontal, temporal and parietal areas. However, the role of hubs and spokes network regions in ToM performance, and their respective damage, is still unclear. To study this mechanism, we combined ToM testing with brain 18F-FDG-PET imaging in 25 subjects with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease (MCI–AD), 24 subjects with the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and 40 controls. Regions included in the ToM network were divided into hubs and spokes based on their structural connectivity and distribution of hypometabolism. The hubs of the ToM network were identified in frontal regions in both bvFTD and MCI–AD patients. A mediation analysis revealed that the impact of spokes damage on ToM performance was mediated by the integrity of hubs (p < 0.001), while the impact of hubs damage on ToM performance was independent from the integrity of spokes (p < 0.001). Our findings support the theory that a key role is played by the hubs in ToM deficits, suggesting that hubs could represent a final common pathway leading from the damage of spoke regions to clinical deficits.

A study on Theory of Mind among adolescents with Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Background: Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is a persisting and lasting pattern of negative, hostile, and deviant behaviour linking with a wide range of psychosocial problems. The deficits in social cognition are also one of the major contributors for symptoms in ODD. Theory of Mind is one of the concepts of social cognition. Aim: The first aim was to examine the concepts of theory of mind in both ODD and healthy adolescents. The second aim was to explore the relationship between severity of ODD and theory of mind. Method: 25 adolescents with a diagnosis of ODD were recruited for study group and 25 healthy adolescents were recruited for control group. The study was conducted in King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India. Theory of Mind sub-test of SOCRATIS was administered through computer to assess the concept of theory of mind. The severity of ODD was assessed through Severity rating scale for ODD patients. Results: There were significant differences found in theory of mind between the study and control group. Also, significant negative correlation was found between theory of mind and severity of ODD. Conclusions: Deficits were found in theory of mind of adolescents with ODD. Adolescents with ODD have difficulty in using reasoning abilities to understand what one person (other than self) thinks about another person’s thoughts and identifying a socially awkward situation. This study also concludes that the more severe ODD symptoms are, the more deficits in TOM were found.

The association between symptom severity and theory of mind impairment in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder

The aim was to investigate the correlation between ADHD symptom severity and impairments in "theory of mind" (ToM) and empathy, and the improvement in these functions following the administration of methylphenidate (MPH). Fifty children aged 6–12 years with ADHD participated in the study. Symptom severity was assessed using the Swanson, Nolan and Pelham Questionnaire-IV (SNAP-IV). ToM performance was assessed using the "ToM test" and the “Faux-Pas Recognition Test”. A significant negative correlation was found between the SNAP-IV Conners index, the oppositional and deportment subscales, and ToM test scores. MPH administration improved ToM scores in a magnitude that was negatively correlated with baseline performance. Additionally, Children with more severe behavioral problems showed greater improvement in ToM following administration of MPH. We conclude that severity of ADHD symptoms, most notably behavioral symptoms, is correlated with deficits in ToM. Administration of MPH improves ToM performance, with the greatest improvement occurring in children with more severe behavioral symptoms.

Executive Functions and Theory of Mind Skills of Sexually Abused Female Adolescents and Their Externalizing and the Internalizing Behavioral Problems

ABSTRACT Sexually abused children (SAC) often experience acute and chronic adverse psychological and physiological effects later in life. This study aims to evaluate psychiatric diagnoses, Executive Functions (EF) and Theory of Mind (ToM) skills deficiencies in sexually abused female adolescents and examine the relation of these deficiencies with externalizing and internalizing behavioral problems. The patient group comprised 42 female adolescents aged 14–18 years (mean = 16.42, standard deviation = 1.01). The Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime Version, Dokuz Eylül ToM Index and Reading the Mind in the Eyes test were applied. The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and Kiddo-KINDL were completed by the participants and their families. A total of 57.2% (n = 24) were classified as SAC with internalizing behavior problems (SAC+I), whereas 66.7% (n = 28) comprised the SAC with externalizing behavior problems (SAC+A) subgroup. SAC+I showed deficits in EF and TOM. Some EF skills were found to be statistically weaker in SAC+A. There was no difference between SAC+A and SAC–A in the TOM tests. The results highlight the need to explore whether these deficiencies are due to psychiatric diseases or whether those who have disabilities in this field carry a higher risk of psychiatric disorder.

Social cognition in first-episode schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder patients.

People with schizophrenia have neurocognitive as well as social cognition deficits. Numerous studies have shown impairment in these domains in patients with chronic schizophrenia. However, these disturbances during the early phase of the disease have been less studied. The aim of the study is to explore the theory of mind (ToM) and emotional processing in first-episode patients, compared to healthy subjects. Forty patients with a first psychotic episode of less than 5 years' duration, and 40 healthy control subjects matched by age and years of schooling were assessed. The measures of social cognition included four stories of false belief, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and the Pictures Of Facial Affect (POFA) series. The patients with a first psychotic episode performed significantly worse in all tasks of social cognition, compared to the healthy controls. The second-order ToM was impaired whereas the first-order ToM was preserved in the patients. Happiness was the emotion most easily identified by both patients and controls. Fear was most difficult for the patients, while for the controls it was disgust. Deficits in ToM and emotional processing are present in patients with a first psychotic episode.

M193. CHANGES IN THEORY OF MIND DETECTED IN SCHIZOPHRENIA SPECTRUM DISORDERS- A LITERATURE REVIEW

BackgroundTheory of mind (ToM) is a core feature of the social functioning because it influences the way an individual perceive other people’s mental states, and because responses to social cues are shaped by one’s ToM. Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) often present cognitive symptoms as part of their clinical manifestations, and there is a controversy about the relation of ToM deficiencies and more general cognitive features of schizophrenia and related disorders [1]. In order to find data that may clarify if ToM deficiencies are part of the schizophrenia cognitive dimension, or if they precede the onset of psychosis and simply coexist with other symptoms met in this type of disorders, a literature analysis was conducted.MethodsThis review included papers published between January 2000 and August 2019 in the main electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane, EMBASE, CINAHL). Keywords used for database search were “schizophrenia spectrum disorders”, “schizophrenia”, “schizoaffective disorder”, “delusional disorder”, or “schizophreniform disorder” and “theory of mind”. There was included no age limit, and no exclusion criteria referred to the duration of the disorder.ResultsA number of 93 papers resulted after the primary search, but only 17 remained after de-duplication and application of inclusion/exclusion criteria. A study with young adults diagnosed with first episode of schizophrenia and matched controls (n=128) suggested that ToM deficits are partly independent of other cognitive functions [1]. Another study (n=1630 children 11–12 years old) reported specific alterations in ToM may be associated with specific types of psychotic experiences, and exaggerated type of ToM may index risk for developing psychosis and paranoid delusions in particular [2]. Adolescents who were genetically at high risk for schizophrenia had social skills impairments but no ToM deficits in a study [3]. Also, there is evidence for ToM deficits in the healthy relatives of schizophrenics, patients with delusional disorder, and individual with high schizotypy scores [4]. The hyper-connectivity in SSD has been confirmed on functional magnetic resonance imaging and default connectivity is correlated to and predictive of theory of mind performance [5]. A significant number of papers (n=10) did not formulate any clear argument to support the independent versus secondary status of the ToM deficits in relation to the SSD cognitive dimension.DiscussionToM deficiencies are important elements that have been associated with the social skills and functioning in patients with SSD, although it is not clear if these elements exist independently from other cognitive symptoms. Relatives of patients with SSD may present ToM deficits, and data exist about the correlation between ToM abnormalities and several positive symptoms of the SSD. However, more well designed trials are needed in order to confirm the association between ToM impairments and SSD.ReferencesLindgren M, Torniainen-Holm M, Heiskanen I, et al. Theory of mind in a first-episode psychosis population using the Hinting Task. Psychiatry Res 2018;263:185–192.Clemmensen L, van Os J, Skovgaard AM, et al. Hyper-Theory-of-Mind in children with psychotic experiences. PLoS ONE 2014;9(11):e113082.Gibson CM, Penn DL, Prinstein MJ, et al. Social skills and social cognition in adolescents at genetic risk for psychosis. Schizophr Res 2010;122(1–3):179–184.Bora M. Theory of mind in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Turkish Journal of Psychiatry 2009;20(3):269–81.Mothersill O, Tangney N, Morris DW, et al. Further evidence of alerted default network connectivity and association with theory of mind ability in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 2017;184:52–58.

Theory of mind deficit in adolescents with major depressive disorder

Objective: This study aims to investigate the two aspects of ToM (social-perceptual and social-cognitive) by comparing patients with major depressive disorder with in adolescents a healthy control group. Methods: The study included 30 adolescent patients with major depression and 31 healthy volunteers matched with patients in terms of age and educational stage. All participants were administered a form for sociodemographic and clinical information and then Kiddie-SADS (Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia), Kovacs Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI), The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Chil-dren-Revised (WISC-R), Smarties Test, Ice Cream Van Test, Hinting Test and Eyes Test were performed. Results: ToM deficit was found in patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder. There was a significant difference between the two groups in the parameters of the CDI, SCARED, Ice Cream Van test, Hinting test, and Eyes test. The WISC-R verbal scores of the patients were significantly correlated with the Eyes test. There was a significant relationship between the patients’ depression scale for children and the ice cream van test. Conclusion: In addition to the literature, this study showed us that both dimensions of ToM may be impaired in adolescents with major depression.

Differentiating implicit and explicit theory of mind and associated neural networks in youth at Clinical High Risk (CHR) for psychosis

BackgroundTheory of mind (ToM) has been shown to be impaired in Clinical High Risk (CHR) for psychosis populations and is linked to functional outcomes and symptom severity. Implicit versus explicit ToM has seldom been differentiated in this group, and underlying neural networks have also gone unexplored. Methods24 CHR and 26 healthy volunteers (HV) completed a behavioral ToM measure called the Short Story Task (SST), as well as a resting state functional MRI scan. SST performance was correlated to attenuated psychosis symptoms. Interactions between group and ToM variables (implicit, explicit, and comprehension) on global efficiency in the Mentalizing (MENT) and Mirror Neuron System (MNS) were also examined. ResultsCHR individuals made significantly fewer spontaneous mental state inferences. There were trend-level associations between ToM variables and symptoms, such that greater ToM performance predicted less severe symptoms. There was an interaction of group by spontaneous mental state inference within MENT bilateral dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), such that CHR individuals that made spontaneous mental state inferences showed greater global efficiency within the MENT network's bilateral dmPFC. DiscussionFindings suggest implicit ToM deficits are observable prior to psychotic disorder onset, and that these deficits implicate MENT network dmPFC efficiency. Explicit ToM performance was unaltered in the CHR group, and there were no interactions observed within MNS, suggesting specificity of implicit ToM associations with MENT network dmPFC global efficiency. Results identify potential treatment targets for the neural underpinnings of ToM, thus informing prevention and intervention efforts.

Do cognitive deficits persist into adolescence in autism?

SEVERAL THEORIES HAVE ATTEMPTED TO CHARACTERISE AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS (ASDS) AT THE COGNITIVE LEVEL, MOST NOTABLY: THEORY OF MIND (TOM), EXECUTIVE FUNCTION (EF), AND A LOCAL PROCESSING BIAS (LB). THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE HOW THESE COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS DEVELOP OVER TIME: The three cognitive domains (ToM, EF, and LB) were examined in a group of high-functioning children (age: 8-12, mean 10.85; IQ: 78-139, mean 105.48) with ASD and a matched group of children with neurotypical development (NTD) (IQ: 75-145, mean: 109.47), and several tasks were used within each domain to ensure the validity of the cognitive measures. Approximately 3 years later (mean age: 14.34), all children and their families were invited to participate in the follow-up (ASD, N = 21; NTD, N = 30). While the understanding of other's minds does improve from childhood to adolescence, ToM impairment persists in adolescents with ASD relative to their peers. Likewise, a development in EF was observed in the ASD group, while no significant improvement was seen in the NTD group, leading the ASD group to catch up in this domain. We did not detect any group differences at any time point regarding local bias processing (LB). Individual patterns of development were seen, but remarkably, ToM deficits were present in every child with ASD in whom we could detect any cognitive impairment at baseline, and a similar pattern was found at follow-up. These findings indicate that ToM is a persistent cognitive deficit in ASD. Autism Res 2018, 11: 1229-1238. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: This was the first study to investigate the development of three well-known cognitive functions into adolescence: While the understanding of other's minds improves from childhood to adolescence, adolescents with ASD are still impaired relative to their peers. The EFs, however, seem to improve to a neurotypical level in ASD as children enter adolescence, while local processing bias seems to differentiate the groups only in early childhood.

Pragmatic Ability Deficit in Schizophrenia and Associated Theory of Mind and Executive Function.

Deficits in pragmatic abilities have frequently been observed in patients with schizophrenia. The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between pragmatic deficits, ToM deficits and executive dysfunctions in schizophrenia. A group of 42 schizophrenic patients and 42 healthy controls were assessed on irony task (one type of pragmatic language), two subcomponents of ToM (cognitive and affective), and three subcomponents of EF (inhibition, updating, and switching). The clinical symptoms in schizophrenia were assessed using the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The schizophrenia group exhibited significant impairments in all above tasks compared to the control group. Correlation results found that irony scores were correlated with the two subcomponents of ToM and two of the three subcomponents of EF (inhibition and updating). The regression analysis revealed that the cognitive ToM and inhibition predicted 9.2% and 29.9% of the variance of irony comprehension in the patient group, and inhibition was the best predictor for performance on irony task. Irony understanding was related to positive symptoms, but not to negative symptoms. The results suggest that the ability to interpret pragmatic language depends on schizophrenic patients’ ability to infer mental states and the ability of inhibition. It provides empirical evidence for a particular target of inhibition for rehabilitation and intervention programs developed for schizophrenic patients.

What your eyes tell me: Theory of mind in bipolar disorder

The aim of this study was to assess social- perceptual Theory of Mind in bipolar disorder (BD). 112 euthymic participants with BD I or BD II (65 with BD I and 47 with BD II) were compared to a group of 112 persons with no psychiatric diagnosis and 43 with unipolar depression (UD). They completed the task of the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” (RMET). The results show that participants with BD, I and II, as well as the group with UD performed significantly more poorly than the control group. As for the wrong answers, BDs mostly chose positive valence stimuli, while the UD group chose negative valence items. The main limitation of this research is related to the characteristics of the cross-sectional study. It cannot detect at what time of the disorder these differences in emotion processing will appear with more intensity. As for future research, we suggest interventions to improve the deficits in ToM in bipolar persons. The use of the RMET in the first stages of BD II could help to facilitate a correct diagnosis.