Division of Neuropsychiatry, Department of Brain and Neuroscience, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine: 36-1 Nishi-cho, Yonago, Tottori, Japan.
National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry: 4-1-1 Ogawa-Higashi, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2016 Mar 1;6:22500. doi: 10.1038/srep22500.
Social cognition is an important determinant of functional impairment in schizophrenia, but its relationship with the prefrontal functional abnormalities associated with the condition is still unclear. The present study aimed to explore the relationship between social cognition and prefrontal function in patients with schizophrenia using 52-channel near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Twenty-six patients with schizophrenia and 26 age-, gender-, and intelligence quotient-matched healthy controls (HCs) participated in the study. Hemodynamic responses in the prefrontal and superior temporal cortical regions were assessed during a working memory task using NIRS. Social cognition was assessed using the Social Cognition Screening Questionnaire (SCSQ). The observed hemodynamic responses were significantly reduced in the lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), the frontopolar cortex, and temporal regions in subjects with schizophrenia compared to HCs. Additionally, lateral PFC hemodynamic responses assessed during the working memory task demonstrated a strong positive correlation with the SCSQ theory of mind (ToM) subscale score even after controlling for working memory performance. These results suggest that ToM integrity is closely related to lateral PFC functional abnormalities found in patients with schizophrenia. In addition, this study provides evidence to suggest that NIRS could be used to identify biomarkers of social cognition function in subjects with schizophrenia.
社会认知是精神分裂症患者功能障碍的一个重要决定因素，但它与该疾病相关的前额叶功能异常之间的关系尚不清楚。本研究旨在使用 52 通道近红外光谱（NIRS）探讨精神分裂症患者的社会认知与前额叶功能之间的关系。26 名精神分裂症患者和 26 名年龄、性别和智商匹配的健康对照组（HCs）参与了研究。使用 NIRS 在工作记忆任务期间评估前额叶和颞叶皮质区域的血液动力学反应。使用社会认知筛查问卷（SCSQ）评估社会认知。与 HCs 相比，精神分裂症患者的外侧前额叶皮层（PFC）、额极皮层和颞叶区域的观察到的血液动力学反应明显降低。此外，即使在校正工作记忆表现后，工作记忆任务期间评估的外侧 PFC 血液动力学反应与 SCSQ 心理理论（ToM）分量表得分呈强烈正相关。这些结果表明，ToM 的完整性与精神分裂症患者中发现的外侧 PFC 功能异常密切相关。此外，这项研究提供了证据表明，NIRS 可用于识别精神分裂症患者社会认知功能的生物标志物。
