When context is difficult to integrate: Cortical measures of congruency in schizophrenics and healthy relatives from multiplex families

Self Cite

Deficits in social cognition are an evident clinical feature of the Asperger syndrome (AS). Although many daily life problems of adults with AS are related to social cognition impairments, few studies have conducted comprehensive research in this area. The current study examined multiple domains of social cognition in adults with AS assessing the executive functions (EF) and exploring the intra and inter-individual variability. Fifteen adult's diagnosed with AS and 15 matched healthy controls completed a battery of social cognition tasks. This battery included measures of emotion recognition, theory of mind (ToM), empathy, moral judgment, social norms knowledge, and self-monitoring behavior in social settings. We controlled for the effect of EF and explored the individual variability. The results indicated that adults with AS had a fundamental deficit in several domains of social cognition. We also found high variability in the social cognition tasks. In these tasks, AS participants obtained mostly subnormal performance. EF did not seem to play a major role in the social cognition impairments. Our results suggest that adults with AS present a pattern of social cognition deficits characterized by the decreased ability to implicitly encode and integrate contextual information in order to access to the social meaning. Nevertheless, when social information is explicitly presented or the situation can be navigated with abstract rules, performance is improved. Our findings have implications for the diagnosis and treatment of individuals with AS as well as for the neurocognitive models of this syndrome.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating intention and context: assessing social cognition in adults with Asperger syndrome

Báez¹,

Rattazzi²,

González-Gadea³

et al. 2012

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“…Although this study is the first to explore the integration of gestures and figurative language, it has certain limitations due to the absence of contrasts between literal and metaphorical stimuli. Consequently, Ibanez et al (2011a,b) extended these findings by comparing literal and metaphorical expressions paired with congruent or incongruent gestures. In line with Cornejo et al (2009) results, they found an N400 effect for incongruent gestures paired with metaphorical expressions over the left anterior regions, followed by a LPC for congruent gestures.…”

Section: N400 Studies On the Semantic Integration Of Speech And Co-spmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…A more ecological approach to the study of action comprehension can be achieved using videos of dynamic events (Cornejo et al, 2009; Ibanez et al, 2011a,b). Videos elicit experiences similar to the perception of real world situations, and they can be used to obtain ERPs in an accurate fashion.…”

Section: The Comprehension Of Everyday Actionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

N400 ERPs for actions: building meaning in context

Amoruso¹,

Gelormini²,

Aboitiz³

et al. 2013

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Converging neuroscientific evidence suggests the existence of close links between language and sensorimotor cognition. Accordingly, during the comprehension of meaningful actions, our brain would recruit semantic-related operations similar to those associated with the processing of language information. Consistent with this view, electrophysiological findings show that the N400 component, traditionally linked to the semantic processing of linguistic material, can also be elicited by action-related material. This review outlines recent data from N400 studies that examine the understanding of action events. We focus on three specific domains, including everyday action comprehension, co-speech gesture integration, and the semantics involved in motor planning and execution. Based on the reviewed findings, we suggest that both negativities (the N400 and the action-N400) reflect a common neurocognitive mechanism involved in the construction of meaning through the expectancies created by previous experiences and current contextual information. To shed light on how this process is instantiated in the brain, a testable contextual fronto-temporo-parietal model is proposed.

“…Nevertheless, multichannel recordings allow investigators to estimate the intracerebral locations of cognitive processes (Picton et al, 2000). Therefore, ERP assessment has become an important tool with the potential to be used for studying sensory, motor, cognitive, and social processes (Ibanez et al, 2006, 2008, 2010a,b, 2011a,b, e, 2012b; Cornejo et al, 2009; Hurtado et al, 2009; Aravena et al, 2010; San Martin et al, 2010; Dufey et al, 2011; Ibáñez et al, 2012) and to provide neuropsychiatric biomarkers (Guerra et al, 2009; Ibanez et al, 2011c, d, 2012a,c; Ibáñez et al, 2011, 2012). In the following section, we present the ERP components that can be most directly related to the extended FSMOCD (see Table 1).…”

Section: Erp Studies Related To the Fsmocdmentioning

confidence: 99%

The extended fronto-striatal model of obsessive compulsive disorder: convergence from event-related potentials, neuropsychology and neuroimaging

Melloni¹,

Urbistondo²,

Sedeño³

et al. 2012

In this work, we explored convergent evidence supporting the fronto-striatal model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (FSMOCD) and the contribution of event-related potential (ERP) studies to this model. First, we considered minor modifications to the FSMOCD model based on neuroimaging and neuropsychological data. We noted the brain areas most affected in this disorder -anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), basal ganglia (BG), and orbito-frontal cortex (OFC) and their related cognitive functions, such as monitoring and inhibition. Then, we assessed the ERPs that are directly related to the FSMOCD, including the error-related negativity (ERN), N200, and P600. Several OCD studies present enhanced ERN and N2 responses during conflict tasks as well as an enhanced P600 during working memory (WM) tasks. Evidence from ERP studies (especially regarding ERN and N200 amplitude enhancement), neuroimaging and neuropsychological findings suggests abnormal activity in the OFC, ACC, and BG in OCD patients. Moreover, additional findings from these analyses suggest dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal cortex involvement, which might be related to executive function (EF) deficits. Thus, these convergent results suggest the existence of a self-monitoring imbalance involving inhibitory deficits and executive dysfunctions. OCD patients present an impaired ability to monitor, control, and inhibit intrusive thoughts, urges, feelings, and behaviors. In the current model, this imbalance is triggered by an excitatory role of the BG (associated with cognitive or motor actions without volitional control) and inhibitory activity of the OFC as well as excessive monitoring of the ACC to block excitatory impulses. This imbalance would interact with the reduced activation of the parietal-DLPC network, leading to executive dysfunction. ERP research may provide further insight regarding the temporal dynamics of action monitoring and executive functioning in OCD.