Impaired Interpretation of Others' Behavior is Associated with Difficulties in Recognizing Pragmatic Language in Patients with Schizophrenia

Disrupted social perception in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease - Associated cognitive processes and clinical implications

BACKGROUND

Social perception refers to the ability to adapt and update one's behaviour in accordance with the current context and provides the foundation for many complex social and emotional interactions. Alterations in social cognition are a hallmark of the behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), yet the capacity for social perception in this syndrome remains unclear.

METHODS

We examined social perception in 18 bvFTD and 13 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, in comparison with 17 healthy older controls, using a social perception task derived from the Dewey Story Test. Participants also completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and carers provided ratings of behavioural and neuropsychiatric changes.

RESULTS

Overall, bvFTD and AD performance diverged significantly from control ratings on the social perception task, however, no significant difference was found between patient groups. Standardised values relative to the mean control rating revealed considerable variability within the patient groups in terms of the direction of deviation, i.e., over- or under-rating the vignettes relative to healthy controls (range z-scores = -1.79 to +1.63). Greater deviation from control ratings was associated with more pronounced memory (p = .007) and behavioural (p = .009) disturbances in bvFTD; whilst social perception performance correlated exclusively with verbal fluency in AD (p = .003).

CONCLUSIONS

Social perception is comparably disrupted in bvFTD and AD, yet likely reflects the differential breakdown of distinct cognitive processes in each dementia syndrome. Our findings have important clinical implications for the development of targeted interventions to manage disease-specific changes in social perception in dementia.

Electrophysiological correlates of conventional metaphor, irony, and literal language processing - An event-related potentials and eLORETA study

Conventional metaphor, irony, and literal language processing were compared. Thirty right-handed participants (21-34 years) performed a sequential-statement ERP-paradigm. A left-frontal Late Anterior Negative Slow Wave (LANSW, 450-1000 ms) was significantly greater for metaphors and by visual tendency greater for irony, compared to literal statements. A centroparietal N400 (300-450 ms) and a centroparietal right-dominant "Late N400" (450-600 ms) were by statistical and visual tendency greater for metaphors. Left PCC and left lingual gyrus activity was significantly higher in metaphors compared to literal statements (eLORETA; 450-1000 ms). A statistical trend indicated higher parahippocampal gyrus activity in metaphors and ironies. N400 results are discussed considering changing processing techniques and a renewed semantic conflict. The Late N400 was associated with the construct of "associativeness". The LANSW was related to metaphorical mapping, frame-shifting processes, integration of meanings, and memory processes. eLORETA results were discussed considering metaphorical mapping, creation of mental images, conventionality, valence, memory processes, and divergent thinking.

Non literal language comprehension in a large sample of first episode psychosis patients in adulthood

To date no data still exist on the comprehension of figurative language in the early phases of psychosis. The aim of this study is to investigate for the first time the comprehension of metaphors and idioms at the onset of the illness. Two-hundred-twenty eight (228) first episode psychosis (FEP) patients (168 NAP, non-affective psychosis; 60 AP, affective psychosis) and 70 healthy controls (HC) were assessed. Groups were contrasted on: a) type of stimulus (metaphors vs idioms) and b) type of response (OPEN = spontaneous explanations vs CLOSED = multiple choice answer). Moreover, a machine learning (ML) approach was adopted to classifying participants. Both NAP and AP had a poorer performance on OPEN metaphors and idioms compared to HC, with worse results on spontaneous interpretation of idioms than metaphors. No differences were observed between NAP and AP in CLOSED tasks. The ML approach points at CLOSED idioms as the best discriminating variable, more relevant than the set of pre-frontal and IQ scores. Deficits in non-figurative language may represent a core feature of psychosis. The possibility to identify linguistic features discriminating FEP may support the early recognition of patients at risk to develop psychosis, guiding provision of personalized and timely interventions.

Developing Appreciation for Sarcasm and Sarcastic Gossip: It Depends on Perspective

BACKGROUND

Speakers use sarcasm to criticize others and to be funny; the indirectness of sarcasm protects the addressee's face (Brown & Levinson, 1987). Thus, appreciation of sarcasm depends on the ability to consider perspectives.

PURPOSE

We investigated development of this ability from late childhood into adulthood and examined effects of interpretive perspective and parties present.

METHOD

We presented 9- to 10-year-olds, 13- to 14-year-olds, and adults with sarcastic and literal remarks in three parties-present conditions: private evaluation, public evaluation, and gossip. Participants interpreted the speaker's attitude and humor from the addressee's perspective and, when appropriate, from the bystander's perspective.

RESULTS

Children showed no influence of interpretive perspective or parties present on appreciation of the speaker's attitude or humor. Adolescents and adults, however, shifted their interpretations, judging that addressees have less favorable views of criticisms than bystanders. Further, adolescents and adults differed in their perceptions of the social functions of gossip, with adolescents showing more positive attitudes than adults toward sarcastic gossip.

CONCLUSIONS

We suggest that adults' disapproval of sarcastic gossip shows a deeper understanding of the utility of sarcasm's face-saving function. Thus, the ability to modulate appreciation of sarcasm according to interpretive perspective and parties present continues to develop in adolescence and into adulthood.