Sestito Mariateresa, Raballo Andrea, Umiltà Maria Alessandra, Leuci Emanuela, Tonna Matteo, Fortunati Renata, De Paola Giancarlo, Amore Mario, Maggini Carlo, Gallese Vittorio
Department of Neuroscience, Unit of Physiology, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Psychopathology. 2015;48(3):184-91. doi: 10.1159/000380884. Epub 2015 Apr 15.
Self-disorders (SDs) have been described as a core schizophrenia spectrum vulnerability phenotype, both in classic and contemporary psychopathological literature. However, such a core phenotype has not yet been investigated adopting a trans-domain approach that combines the phenomenological and the neurophysiological levels of analysis. The aim of this study is to investigate the relation between SDs and subtle, schizophrenia-specific impairments of emotional resonance that are supposed to reflect abnormalities in the mirror neurons mechanism. Specifically, we tested whether electromyographic response to emotional stimuli (i.e. a proxy for subtle changes in facial mimicry and related motor resonance mechanisms) would predict the occurrence of anomalous subjective experiences (i.e. SDs).
Eighteen schizophrenia spectrum (SzSp) patients underwent a comprehensive psychopathological examination and were contextually tested with a multimodal paradigm, recording facial electromyographic activity of muscles in response to positive and negative emotional stimuli. Experiential anomalies were explored with the Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms (BSABS) and then condensed into rational subscales mapping SzSp anomalous self-experiences.
SzSp patients showed an imbalance in emotional motor resonance with a selective bias toward negative stimuli, as well as a multisensory integration impairment. Multiple regression analysis showed that electromyographic facial reactions in response to negative stimuli presented in auditory modality specifically and strongly correlated with SD subscore.
The study confirms the potential of SDs as target phenotype for neurobiological research and encourages research into disturbed motor/emotional resonance as possible body-level correlate of disturbed subjective experiences in SzSp.
在经典和当代精神病理学文献中，自我障碍（SDs）均被描述为精神分裂症谱系的核心易感性表型。然而，尚未采用一种跨领域的方法来研究这种核心表型，该方法结合了现象学和神经生理学分析水平。本研究的目的是调查自我障碍与细微的、精神分裂症特异性的情感共鸣障碍之间的关系，这些障碍被认为反映了镜像神经元机制的异常。具体而言，我们测试了对情感刺激的肌电图反应（即面部模仿和相关运动共鸣机制细微变化的替代指标）是否能预测异常主观体验（即自我障碍）的发生。
18名精神分裂症谱系（SzSp）患者接受了全面的精神病理学检查，并同时使用多模态范式进行测试，记录肌肉对面部正面和负面情感刺激的肌电图活动。使用波恩基本症状评估量表（BSABS）探索体验异常，然后将其浓缩为映射SzSp异常自我体验的合理子量表。
SzSp患者表现出情感运动共鸣失衡，对负面刺激存在选择性偏向，以及多感官整合障碍。多元回归分析表明，对听觉模态呈现的负面刺激的面部肌电图反应与自我障碍子评分具有特异性且强烈的相关性。
该研究证实了自我障碍作为神经生物学研究目标表型的潜力，并鼓励对运动/情感共鸣障碍进行研究，因为它可能是SzSp主观体验障碍在身体层面的相关因素。
