scholarly journals Cognitive and affective theory of mind in Korsakoff’s syndrome

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (03) ◽  
pp. 128-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolinda Drost ◽  
Albert Postma ◽  
Erik Oudman
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Anterograde Amnesia ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Korsakoff’S Syndrome ◽  
Korsakoff's Syndrome ◽  
Executive Deficits ◽  
And Gender

AbstractObjectiveKorsakoff’s syndrome (KS) is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder characterised by severe anterograde amnesia and executive deficits. Theory of Mind (ToM) is the capacity to represent others’ mental states such as their knowledge, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and intentions in order to explain and predict their behaviour. Surprisingly this topic has received hardly any attention in research on KS, although the severity of behavioural problems in KS suggest possible ToM difficulties. The aim of the present study was therefore to assess whether cognitive and affective ToM are impaired in patients with KS.MethodsWe examined 21 KS patients and 21 age- and gender-matched healthy controls on three standardised tests that assess cognitive and affective ToM, including the subtests of the mini-Social Cognition and Emotional Assessment battery and a specialised version of the Sally–Anne Test.ResultsKS patients showed largely impaired cognitive and affective ToM compared to healthy controls, as reflected in large effect sizes on both cognitive and affective ToM tests. Executive deficits explained problems in emotion recognition, but not other ToM aspects.ConclusionKS patients have large impairments in both cognitive and affective aspects of social cognition. Their ability to recognise emotions, take the perspective of others, and understand socially awkward situations is vastly compromised. The impairments in ToM functioning are to a large degree functionally discrepant from executive disorders that are commonly present in KS. This study therefore highlights the importance to properly index ToM functioning in neuropsychological assessments for individuals with a possible KS diagnosis.

Brain activity during social cognition tasks in individuals with schizophrenia, their unaffected siblings, and healthy controls

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1397-1397
Author(s):  
D. de Achaval ◽  
M. Villarreal ◽  
E. Costanzo ◽  
J. Douer ◽  
K. Buglioni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Emotion Processing ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Brain Lateralization ◽  
Measuring Signal

BackgroundSeveral studies have shown that patients with schizophrenia have impaired performance in various aspects of social cognition including emotion processing and theory of mind. Most available neuroimaging studies have compared patients and healthy controls during such mental.ObjectiveTo determine whether alterations in brain activation associated with social cognition reflects a heritable trait in schizophrenia.MethodsSixteen patients with schizophrenia (age 31.3 ± 6.5), 16 non-psychotic siblings (age 31.8 ± 3.5, 6 females) and 16 healthy subjects (age 30.1 ± 9.2, 6 females) underwent BOLD fMRI during emotion processing (Ekman Faces Test) and Theory of Mind (ToM) paradigms: Faces and Reading the Mind in the Eyes tasks. In all cases a gender condition was used as a control task. Random effects analysis was done for each task within groups, measuring signal changes between the target and control conditions of each paradigm, and later a group analysis was done.ResultsIn patients, social cognition tasks brought about activations in language areas (left inferior frontal gyrus and structures near tempo parietal junction). The intensity of the activations was minimum in the emotional processing task (basic emotions), and maximum in the detection of complex mental states in eyes. Healthy controls also activated symmetric brain structures on the right side. Unaffected siblings also showed bilateral activation in the same brain structures but asymmetrically distributed (left > right).DiscussionThese results support the idea that schizophrenia is an illness characterized by abnormalities in the process of brain lateralization.

Pediatric Stroke Impairs Theory of Mind Performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 228-234
Author(s):  
Warren Lo ◽  
Xiangrui Li ◽  
Kristen Hoskinson ◽  
Kelly McNally ◽  
Melissa Chung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Network Connectivity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Childhood Stroke ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Resting State Connectivity ◽  
Control Study

Aim: This pilot study explored whether childhood stroke impairs performance on theory of mind (ToM) tasks and whether ToM task performance correlates with resting state connectivity in brain regions linked with social cognition. Method: We performed a case-control study of 10 children with stroke and 10 age- and gender-matched controls. They completed 2 ToM tasks, and resting state connectivity was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results: Children with stroke performed worse than controls on conative ToM tasks. Resting state connectivity in the central executive network was significantly higher and connectivity between right and left inferior parietal lobules was significantly decreased in children with stroke. Resting state activity and ToM performance were not significantly correlated. Interpretation: Childhood stroke results in poorer performance on specific ToM tasks. Stroke is associated with changes in resting state connectivity in networks linked with social cognition including ToM. Although the basis for these changes in connectivity is not well understood, these results may provide preliminary insights into potential mechanisms affecting social cognition after stroke. The findings suggest that further study of the effect of childhood stroke on network connectivity may yield insights as to how stroke affects cognitive functions in children.

Social Cognition and Psychosocial Functioning in Schizophrenia

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
G. Juckel ◽  
M. Brüne
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Psychosocial Functioning ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Functioning Level ◽  
Performance Scale

Ability for empathy and theory of mind are diminshed in patients with schizophrenia. These kinds of social cognition are, however, necessary to interact with other people and obtain a well-balanced psychosocial functioning level, i.e. to have friends, to go for work, to be in partnership and so on. Own studies revealed that disturbances in social cognition are accompanied by fMRI activation deficits in distinct regions of the underlying neuronanatomical loop in schizophrenia. The most significant difference compared to healthy controls was found in the region of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). We think that training of social cognition would improve both the neurobiological hypoactivation and the ability for empathy and theory of mind. As consequence, psychosocial functioning of the patients should be become better as measured e.g. by the personal and social performance scale (PSP). To emphazise the close relationship between social cognition, ist underlying neuobiology and psychosocial functioning is the main purpose of this lecture.

scholarly journals Are Impairments in Theory of Mind Specific to Borderline Personality Disorder?

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 827-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eivind Normann-Eide ◽  
Bj⊘rnar Torske Antonsen ◽  
Elfrida Hartveit Kvarstein ◽  
Geir Pedersen ◽  
Anja Vaskinn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Borderline Personality Disorder ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Personality Disorders ◽  
Interpersonal Problems ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The Relationship

Impaired theory of mind (ToM) is an assumed feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet, no studies have compared ToM abilities in patients with BPD, other personality disorders, and healthy controls, or investigated the relationship between ToM and severity of psychopathology and interpersonal problems. In this study, ToM was investigated by the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition. No differences were found between the three groups in overall ToM abilities. The BPD group was, however, characterized by more excessive ToM (interpreted as hypermentalization). Yet, when differentiating between BPD and further severity indicators, excessive ToM was not specifically associated with a BPD diagnosis per se. Finally, there was a moderate association between hypermentalization and interpersonal problems in the BPD group. This study suggests that BPD patients tend to hypermentalize when they misinterpret social information, and that this tendency is related to the severity of their psychopathology.

scholarly journals Neural correlates of theory-of-mind are associated with variation in children’s everyday social cognition

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 579-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cora E Mukerji ◽  
Sarah Hope Lincoln ◽  
David Dodell-Feder ◽  
Charles A Nelson ◽  
Christine I Hooker
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Mental States ◽  
False Belief ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Cognitive Behavior ◽  
School Age ◽  
Temporoparietal Junction ◽  
False Belief Reasoning

ABSTRACT Theory of mind (ToM), the capacity to reason about others’ mental states, is central to healthy social development. Neural mechanisms supporting ToM may contribute to individual differences in children’s social cognitive behavior. Employing a false belief functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm, we identified patterns of neural activity and connectivity elicited by ToM reasoning in school-age children (N = 32, ages 9–13). Next, we tested relations between these neural ToM correlates and children’s everyday social cognition. Several key nodes of the neural ToM network showed greater activity when reasoning about false beliefs (ToM condition) vs non-mentalistic false content (control condition), including the bilateral temporoparietal junction (RTPJ and LTPJ), precuneus (PC) and right superior temporal sulcus. In addition, children demonstrated task-modulated changes in connectivity among these regions to support ToM relative to the control condition. ToM-related activity in the PC was negatively associated with variation in multiple aspects of children’s social cognitive behavior. Together, these findings elucidate how nodes of the ToM network act and interact to support false belief reasoning in school-age children and suggest that neural ToM mechanisms are linked to variation in everyday social cognition.

Theory of mind in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Comparison with healthy controls

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Sayın ◽  
N. Oral ◽  
Ç. Utku ◽  
E. Baysak ◽  
S. Candansayar
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Digit Span ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Delayed Recall ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Immediate Recall

AbstractAimTheory of mind (ToM) is the ability to represent one's own or another's mental states and has been found to be impaired in many psychiatric disorders. Our objective was to compare ToM abilities of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with healthy controls and to investigate the relation between some illness features, other cognitive functions and ToM abilities of patients.MethodThirty OCD patients and age, sex and education matched 30 healthy controls were compared according to their performances on ToM tasks (including first and second order false belief, hinting task and double-bluff task), verbal memory processes test, Weschler memory test (WMT) (logical memory, visual reproduction and digit span sub-tests), stroop test.ResultsPatients’ performances were worse than healthy controls on all of the ToM tasks, but the results were significant for only for double-bluff task (t = −3.992, df = 36.157, p < 0.01). Performance on double-bluff task was significantly and positively correlated with visual reproduction-immediate recall (r = −0.411, p < 0.05) and visual reproduction-delayed recall (r = 0.478, p < 0.05), hinting task was significantly and positively correlated with verbal memory (r = 0.481, p < 0.05).ConclusionThese results show “basic” ToM abilities of OCD patients are generally preserved, but they show significant reduction in their “advanced” ToM abilities, which seem to be related to their reduced memory capacities. The possible reasons for the relation between memory and ToM impairments, as well as the clinical significance of ToM deficits in OCD are discussed.

scholarly journals Theory of Mind in Pre-school Aged Children: Influence of Maternal Depression and Infants’ Self-Comforting Behavior

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora Nonnenmacher ◽  
Mitho Müller ◽  
Joana Taczkowski ◽  
Anna-Lena Zietlow ◽  
Beate Sodian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Child Development ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Maternal Depression ◽  
Mental States ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Affective States ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Dsm Iv

A milestone of child development is theory of mind (ToM): the ability to attribute mental states, especially beliefs and desires, to other persons and to understand that their behavior is guided by mental states. The learning process about the mental world also takes place in social communication and interaction, beginning in infancy. Infancy is assumed to be a sensitive period for the development of social skills through interaction. Due to limited self-regulatory skills, infants depend on sensitive behavior of their caregivers to regulate affective states and physiological arousal, and in turn, mutually regulated affects allow the infant to gradually acquire the capability to self-regulate negative affective states. Effective and adequate affect regulation is an important prerequisite for environmental interaction and thus for the development of socio-emotional skills. The present study investigated the relation of self-regulatory abilities in infancy and later ToM in pre-school aged children of clinically depressed mothers and healthy controls. The sample comprised of N = 55 mother–child dyads, n = 22 diagnosed with postpartum or lifetime depression according to DSM-IV and n = 33 healthy controls. Mother–infant-interaction was videotaped during the Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm. At 3 and 42 months postpartum mothers were interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) to evaluate maternal psychopathological status according to DSM-IV. At the age of M = 4.0 years, children’s ToM abilities were assessed using content-false-belief and location-false-belief tasks. The results of this study show that contrary to our hypotheses, maternal depression did not impair the development of children’s ToM-abilities per se. Rather, an interaction effect highlights the role of infant’s self-comforting behavior during mother–infant interaction in infancy (3 months postpartum) for ToM-development at pre-school age assessed with the Maxi-task; this association was distinct for female in comparison to male children. The results of this longitudinal study shed light on the discussion, how maternal depression influences child development and point in the direction that self-comforting behaviors in infancy can also be seen as a resource.

Theory of mind in naturalistic conversations between autistic and typically developing children and adolescents

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Alkire ◽  
Kathryn A. McNaughton ◽  
Heather Yarger ◽  
Deena Shariq ◽  
Elizabeth Redcay
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
Mental State Language ◽  
Strengths And Difficulties ◽  
And Gender

Successful social interactions are assumed to depend on theory of mind (ToM)—the ability to represent others’ mental states—yet most studies of the relation between ToM and social-interactive success rely on non-interactive tasks that do not adequately capture the spontaneous engagement of ToM, a crucial component of everyday social interactions. We addressed this gap by establishing a novel observational rating scale to measure the spontaneous use of ToM (or lack thereof) within naturalistic conversations (conversational ToM, or cToM). In 50 age- and gender-matched dyads of autistic and typically developing children aged 8–16, we assessed cToM during 5-minute, unstructured conversations. We found that ratings on the cToM Negative scale, reflecting ToM-related violations of conversational norms, were negatively associated with two forms of non-interactive ToM: visual-affective and spontaneous. In contrast, the cToM Positive scale, reflecting explicit mental state language and perspective-taking, was not associated with these non-interactive ToM abilities. Furthermore, autistic participants were rated higher than typically developing participants on cToM Negative, but the two groups were rated similarly on cToM Positive. Together, these findings provide insight into multiple aspects of ToM in conversation and reveal a nuanced picture of the relative strengths and difficulties among autistic individuals.

What Do Theory-of-Mind Tasks Actually Measure? Theory and Practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 384-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Quesque ◽  
Yves Rossetti
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Mental State ◽  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Measure Theory ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Present Review ◽  
Functional Architecture

In recent decades, the ability to represent others’ mental states (i.e., theory of mind) has gained particular attention in various disciplines ranging from ethology to cognitive neuroscience. Despite the exponentially growing interest, the functional architecture of social cognition is still unclear. In the present review, we argue that not only the vocabulary but also most of the classic measures for theory of mind lack specificity. We examined classic tests used to assess theory of mind and noted that the majority of them do not require the participant to represent another’s mental state or, sometimes, any mental state at all. Our review reveals that numerous classic tests measure lower-level processes that do not directly test for theory of mind. We propose that more attention should be paid to methods used in this field of social cognition to improve the understanding of underlying concepts.

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