Abnormal neural responses to social exclusion in schizophrenia

TY - JOUR

T1 - Abnormal neural responses to social exclusion in schizophrenia

A1 - Gradin,Victoria B.

A1 - Waiter,Gordon

A1 - Kumar,Poornima

A1 - Stickle,Catriona

A1 - Milders,Maarten

A1 - Matthews,Keith

A1 - Reid,Ian

A1 - Hall,Jeremy

A1 - Steele,J. Douglas

AU - Gradin,Victoria B.

AU - Waiter,Gordon

AU - Kumar,Poornima

AU - Stickle,Catriona

AU - Milders,Maarten

AU - Matthews,Keith

AU - Reid,Ian

AU - Hall,Jeremy

AU - Steele,J. Douglas

PY - 2012/8/16

Y1 - 2012/8/16

N2 - <p>Social exclusion is an influential concept in politics, mental health and social psychology. Studies on healthy subjects have implicated the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a region involved in emotional and social information processing, in neural responses to social exclusion. Impairments in social interactions are common in schizophrenia and are associated with reduced quality of life. Core symptoms such as delusions usually have a social content. However little is known about the neural underpinnings of social abnormalities. The aim of this study was to investigate the neural substrates of social exclusion in schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls underwent fMRI while participating in a popular social exclusion paradigm. This task involves passing a 'ball' between the participant and two cartoon representations of other subjects. The extent of social exclusion (ball not being passed to the participant) was parametrically varied throughout the task. Replicating previous findings, increasing social exclusion activated the mPFC in controls. In contrast, patients with schizophrenia failed to modulate mPFC responses with increasing exclusion. Furthermore, the blunted response to exclusion correlated with increased severity of positive symptoms. These data support the hypothesis that the neural response to social exclusion differs in schizophrenia, highlighting the mPFC as a potential substrate of impaired social interactions.</p>

AB - <p>Social exclusion is an influential concept in politics, mental health and social psychology. Studies on healthy subjects have implicated the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a region involved in emotional and social information processing, in neural responses to social exclusion. Impairments in social interactions are common in schizophrenia and are associated with reduced quality of life. Core symptoms such as delusions usually have a social content. However little is known about the neural underpinnings of social abnormalities. The aim of this study was to investigate the neural substrates of social exclusion in schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls underwent fMRI while participating in a popular social exclusion paradigm. This task involves passing a 'ball' between the participant and two cartoon representations of other subjects. The extent of social exclusion (ball not being passed to the participant) was parametrically varied throughout the task. Replicating previous findings, increasing social exclusion activated the mPFC in controls. In contrast, patients with schizophrenia failed to modulate mPFC responses with increasing exclusion. Furthermore, the blunted response to exclusion correlated with increased severity of positive symptoms. These data support the hypothesis that the neural response to social exclusion differs in schizophrenia, highlighting the mPFC as a potential substrate of impaired social interactions.</p>

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0042608

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0042608

M1 - Article

JO - PLoS ONE

JF - PLoS ONE

SN - 1932-6203

IS - 8

VL - 7

SP - -

ER -