Role of Visual Integration in Gaze Perception and Emotional Intelligence in Schizophrenia

Tso, Ivy F.; Carp, Joshua; Taylor, Stephan F.; Deldin, Patricia J.

doi:10.1093/schbul/sbt058

Cited by 25 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Our finding of altered GABAergic function in the visual cortex during face processing confirms the involvement of altered early visual processing in social cognitive deficits in previous behavioral (Sergi and Green, 2003; Sergi et al, 2006; Tso et al, 2014; Tso et al, 2012) and neuroimaging studies (Taylor et al, 2012). The correlation with increased negative affect, consistent across multiple measures, suggests that GABA abnormalities may underlie the “aversive drift” phenomenon in schizophrenia (Meehl, 1962, 1990).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Abnormal GABAergic function and face processing in schizophrenia: A pharmacologic-fMRI study

Tso

Fang

Phan

et al. 2015

Schizophrenia Research

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The involvement of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system in schizophrenia is suggested by postmortem studies and the common use of GABA receptor-potentiating agents in treatment. In a recent study, we used a benzodiazepine challenge to demonstrate abnormal GABAergic function during processing of negative visual stimuli in schizophrenia. This study extended this investigation by mapping GABAergic mechanisms associated with face processing and social appraisal in schizophrenia using a benzodiazepine challenge. Fourteen stable, medicated schizophrenia/schizoaffective patients (SZ) and 13 healthy controls (HC) underwent functional MRI using the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) technique while they performed the Socio-emotional Preference Task (SePT) on emotional face stimuli (“Do you like this face?”). Participants received single-blinded intravenous saline and lorazepam (LRZ) in two separate sessions separated by 1-3 weeks. Both SZ and HC recruited medial prefrontal cortex/anterior cingulate during the SePT, relative to gender identification. A significant drug by group interaction was observed in the medial occipital cortex, such that SZ showed increased BOLD signal to LRZ challenge, while HC showed an expected decrease of signal; the interaction did not vary by task. The altered BOLD response to LRZ challenge in SZ was significantly correlated with increased negative affect across multiple measures. The altered response to LRZ challenge suggests that abnormal face processing and negative affect in SZ are associated with altered GABAergic function in the visual cortex, underscoring the role of impaired visual processing in socio-emotional deficits in schizophrenia.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Abnormal GABAergic function and face processing in schizophrenia: A pharmacologic-fMRI study

Tso

Fang

Phan

et al. 2015

Schizophrenia Research

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“…Contributors to poor social functioning in CPD include pervasive impairments in social cognition [2], including the perception, interpretation and processing of socially-relevant information [3]. For example, individuals with CPD show impairments in gaze perception [4], emotion perception [5,6], social cue perception [7], theory of mind [8], attribution style [9] and empathy [10]. Impairments across all of these core domains of social cognition persist throughout the course of the illness and have been linked to low occupational status, impaired community functioning, reduced capabilities for independent living, high relapse rates and reduced quality of life [1,11-14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Creating Live Interactions to Mitigate Barriers (CLIMB): A Mobile Intervention to Improve Social Functioning in People With Chronic Psychotic Disorders

Biagianti¹,

Schlosser²,

Nahum³

et al. 2016

JMIR Ment Health

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BackgroundNumerous psychosocial interventions for individuals with chronic psychotic disorders (CPD) have shown positive effects on social cognitive and functional outcome measures. However, access to and engagement with these interventions remains limited. This is partly because these interventions require specially trained therapists, are not available in all clinical settings, and have a high scheduling burden for participants, usually requiring a commitment of several weeks. Delivering interventions remotely via mobile devices may facilitate access, improve scheduling flexibility, and decrease participant burden, thus improving adherence to intervention requirements. To address these needs, we designed the Creating Live Interactions to Mitigate Barriers (CLIMB) digital intervention, which aims to enhance social functioning in people with CPD. CLIMB consists of two treatment components: a computerized social cognition training (SCT) program and optimized remote group therapy (ORGT). ORGT is an innovative treatment that combines remote group therapy with group texting (short message service, SMS).ObjectivesThe objectives of this single-arm study were to investigate the feasibility of delivering 6 weeks of CLIMB to people with CPD and explore the initial effects on outcomes.MethodsParticipants were recruited, screened and enrolled via the Internet, and delivered assessments and interventions remotely using provided tablets (iPads). Participants were asked to complete 18 hours of SCT and to attend 6 remote group therapy sessions. To assess feasibility, adherence to study procedures, attrition rates, engagement metrics, and acceptability of the intervention were evaluated. Changes on measures of social cognition, quality of life, and symptoms were also explored.ResultsIn total, 27 participants were enrolled over 12 months. Remote assessments were completed successfully on 96% (26/27) of the enrolled participants. Retention in the 6-week trial was 78% (21/27). Of all the iPads used, 95% (22/23) were returned undamaged at the end of the intervention. Participants on average attended 84% of the group therapy sessions, completed a median of 9.5 hours of SCT, and posted a median of 5.2 messages per week on the group text chat. Participants rated CLIMB in the medium range in usability, acceptability, enjoyment, and perceived benefit. Participants showed significant improvements in emotion identification abilities for prosodic happiness (P=.001), prosodic happiness intensity (P=.04), and facial anger (P=.04), with large within-group effect sizes (d=.60 to d=.86). Trend-level improvements were observed on aspects of quality of life (P values less than .09). No improvements were observed for symptoms.ConclusionsIt is feasible and acceptable to remotely deliver an intervention aimed at enhancing social functioning in people with CPD using mobile devices. This approach may represent a scalable method to increase treatment access and adherence. Our pilot data also demonstrate within-group gains in some aspects of social cogni...

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“…Edwards et al, 2001), social cue perception (including gaze perception, e.g. Hooker and Park, 2005; Rosse et al, 1994; Tso et al, 2013; Tso et al, 2012), theory of mind (ToM; e.g. Bertrand et al, 2007) and attributional style (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel, online social cognitive training program for young adults with schizophrenia: A pilot study

Nahum

Fisher

Loewy

et al. 2014

Schizophrenia Research: Cognition

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Background Pervasive social cognition deficits are evident early in the course of schizophrenia and are directly linked to functional outcome, making them an important target for intervention. Here, we tested the feasibility of use, and initiated the evaluation of efficacy, of a novel, neuroplasticity-based online training program (SocialVille) in young adults with schizophrenia. Methods Schizophrenia patients (n=17) completed 24 hours of online SocialVille game play either from home or at a clinic, over a 6-10 week period. We examined training feasibility, gains on the SocialVille exercises relative to matched healthy controls (n=17), and changes on measures of social cognition, social functioning, global functioning and motivation. Results Subjects adhered to training requirements, and rated SocialVille in the medium to high range in satisfaction, enjoyment, and ease of use. Subjects demonstrated significant, large improvements on the speeded SocialVille tasks, and small to moderate improvements on the working memory tasks. Post-training performance on the SocialVille tasks were similar to initial performance of the healthy controls. Subjects also showed improvements on standard measures of social cognition, social functioning, and motivation. No improvements were recorded for emotion recognition indices on the MSCEIT, or on quality of life scales. Conclusion This study provides an initial proof of concept for online social cognition training in schizophrenia. This form of training demonstrated feasibility and resulted in within-subject gains in social functioning and motivation. This pilot study represents a first step towards validating this training approach; randomized controlled trials, now underway, are designed to confirm and extend these findings.

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Role of Visual Integration in Gaze Perception and Emotional Intelligence in Schizophrenia

Cited by 25 publications

References 43 publications

Abnormal GABAergic function and face processing in schizophrenia: A pharmacologic-fMRI study

Abnormal GABAergic function and face processing in schizophrenia: A pharmacologic-fMRI study

Creating Live Interactions to Mitigate Barriers (CLIMB): A Mobile Intervention to Improve Social Functioning in People With Chronic Psychotic Disorders

A novel, online social cognitive training program for young adults with schizophrenia: A pilot study

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