Clinical Neuroscience of Schizophrenia Laboratory, Department of Psychology, 2500 University Drive NW, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4.
Clinical Neuroscience of Schizophrenia Laboratory, Department of Psychology, 2500 University Drive NW, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4.
Psychiatry Res. 2014 Aug 15;218(1-2):12-9. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2014.03.043. Epub 2014 Apr 5.
Research consistently demonstrates that schizophrenia patients have theory of mind (ToM) impairments. Additionally, there is some evidence that family members of schizophrenia patients also demonstrate impairments in ToM, suggesting a genetic vulnerability for the disorder. This study assessed ToM abilities (i.e., sarcasm comprehension) in schizophrenia patients and their first-degree biological relatives during video-taped social interactions, to be representative of real-world interactions and to assess for disease-specific and/or genetic liability effects. Additionally, we assessed whether ToM abilities predicted social and global functioning in schizophrenia patients, and whether symptoms were associated with ToM deficits. Schizophrenia patients demonstrated impairments in sarcasm comprehension compared to controls and relatives, whereas relatives showed intact comprehension. Symptoms of schizophrenia significantly predicted worse ToM abilities. Furthermore, in schizophrenia patients, impaired ToM reasoning predicted worse social and global functioning. Given schizophrenia patients demonstrated impairments in ToM reasoning in a task that resembles real-life interactions, this might be a key area for remediation.
研究不断表明精神分裂症患者存在心理理论（ToM）障碍。此外，有证据表明精神分裂症患者的家庭成员也表现出心理理论障碍，这表明该疾病存在遗传易感性。本研究在视频社交互动中评估了精神分裂症患者及其一级生物亲属的心理理论能力（即讽刺理解），以代表真实世界的互动，并评估疾病特异性和/或遗传易感性效应。此外，我们评估了心理理论能力是否可以预测精神分裂症患者的社交和整体功能，以及症状是否与心理理论缺陷有关。与对照组和亲属相比，精神分裂症患者在讽刺理解方面表现出障碍，而亲属则表现出正常理解。精神分裂症的症状显著预测了更差的心理理论能力。此外，在精神分裂症患者中，受损的心理理论推理预测了更差的社交和整体功能。鉴于精神分裂症患者在类似于现实生活互动的任务中表现出心理理论推理障碍，这可能是一个需要补救的关键领域。
