Neural correlates of social cognition in populations at risk of psychosis: A systematic review

P Kozhuharova; F Saviola; U Ettinger; P Allen

doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.10.010

Neural correlates of social cognition in populations at risk of psychosis: A systematic review

Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2020 Jan:108:94-111. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.10.010. Epub 2019 Nov 12.

Authors

P Kozhuharova¹, F Saviola², U Ettinger³, P Allen⁴

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Cognition, Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Department of Psychology, University of Roehampton, UK. Electronic address: kozhuhap@roehampton.ac.uk.
² Centre for Cognition, Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Department of Psychology, University of Roehampton, UK; Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto (Trento), Italy.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Germany.
⁴ Centre for Cognition, Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Department of Psychology, University of Roehampton, UK; Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London, UK; Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, USA.

PMID: 31730786
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.10.010

Abstract

Social cognition refers to the mental operations governing social interactions. Recent research has highlighted the importance of social cognition in determining functional outcome in patients with schizophrenia and in psychosis risk populations. The aim of this review is to investigate the neural correlates of social cognition in different psychosis risk populations, potentially representing different levels of risk i.e. high schizotypy (SR), familial risk (FR) and clinical high risk (CHR). PsychINFO, Web of Science and PubMed were systematically searched, and 39 papers were included in the final review. Results in FR samples were highly inconclusive. In SR samples, findings showed a tendency towards increased task related activity in frontal cortex regions. The most consistent results come from CHR samples, where findings suggest increased task related activity in frontal and cingulate cortices. Interestingly, all studies of CHR populations also report increased activity in temporal cortex and abnormal response to neutral stimuli during emotional processing tasks. These findings are discussed in relation to dopamine models of psychosis due to temporal cortex abnormality.

Keywords: Functional neuroimaging; Psychosis; Risk; Social cognition; Systematic review.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Cerebral Cortex / diagnostic imaging
Cerebral Cortex / physiopathology*
Cognitive Dysfunction / diagnostic imaging
Cognitive Dysfunction / etiology
Cognitive Dysfunction / physiopathology*
Disease Susceptibility / complications
Disease Susceptibility / diagnostic imaging
Disease Susceptibility / physiopathology*
Humans
Psychotic Disorders / complications
Psychotic Disorders / diagnostic imaging
Psychotic Disorders / physiopathology*
Schizophrenia / complications
Schizophrenia / diagnostic imaging
Schizophrenia / physiopathology*
Schizotypal Personality Disorder / complications
Schizotypal Personality Disorder / diagnostic imaging
Schizotypal Personality Disorder / physiopathology*
Social Cognition*