Neuroscience Institute, Paracelsus Medical University, Christian-Doppler Clinic, Salzburg, Austria.
Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
Schizophr Bull. 2017 Oct 21;43(6):1240-1250. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbx073.
Social cognition abilities are severely impaired in schizophrenia (SZ). The current meta-analysis used foci of 21 individual studies on functional abnormalities in the schizophrenic brain in order to identify regions that reveal convergent under- or over-activation during theory of mind (TOM) tasks. Studies were included in the analyses when contrasting tasks that require the processing of mental states with tasks which did not. Only studies that investigated patients with an ICD or DSM diagnosis were included. Quantitative voxel-based meta-analyses were done using Seed-based d Mapping software. Common TOM regions like medial-prefrontal cortex and temporo-parietal junction revealed abnormal activation in schizophrenic patients: Under-activation was identified in the medial prefrontal cortex, left orbito-frontal cortex, and in a small section of the left posterior temporo-parietal junction. Remarkably, robust over-activation was identified in a more dorsal, bilateral section of the temporo-parietal junction. Further abnormal activation was identified in medial occipito-parietal cortex, right premotor areas, left cingulate gyrus, and lingual gyrus. The findings of this study suggest that SZ patients simultaneously show over- and under-activation in TOM-related regions. Especially interesting, temporo-parietal junction reveals diverging activation patterns with an under-activating left posterior and an over-activating bilateral dorsal section. In conclusion, SZ patients show less specialized brain activation in regions linked to TOM and increased activation in attention-related networks suggesting compensatory effects.
社交认知能力在精神分裂症（SZ）中严重受损。本荟萃分析使用了 21 项针对精神分裂症大脑功能异常的个体研究的焦点，以确定在心理理论（TOM）任务中揭示出一致的过度或不足激活的区域。当对比需要处理心理状态的任务和不要求处理心理状态的任务时，研究才被纳入分析。仅包括调查 ICD 或 DSM 诊断的患者的研究。使用基于种子的 d 映射软件进行了定量体素荟萃分析。像内侧前额叶皮层和颞顶联合区这样的常见 TOM 区域在精神分裂症患者中显示出异常激活：在内侧前额叶皮层、左侧眶额皮层和左侧颞顶联合后段的一小部分中发现了激活不足。值得注意的是，在颞顶联合后更背侧和双侧的部分中发现了强烈的过度激活。在中顶枕叶皮层、右侧运动前区、左侧扣带回和舌回中也发现了异常激活。这项研究的结果表明，SZ 患者在与 TOM 相关的区域同时表现出过度和不足的激活。特别有趣的是，颞顶联合区显示出不同的激活模式，左侧后段激活不足，双侧背段过度激活。总之，SZ 患者在与 TOM 相关的区域显示出较少的特定脑激活，而在注意力相关网络中显示出增加的激活，这表明存在代偿效应。
