1
|
Blain SD, Taylor SF, Rutherford SE, Lasagna CA, Yao B, Angstadt M, Green MF, Johnson TD, Peltier S, Diwadkar VA, Tso IF. Neurobehavioral indices of gaze perception are associated with social cognition across schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND CLINICAL SCIENCE 2023; 132:733-748. [PMID: 37384487 PMCID: PMC10513759 DOI: 10.1037/abn0000846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gaze perception is a basic building block of social cognition, which is impaired in schizophrenia (SZ) and contributes to functional outcomes. Few studies, however, have investigated neural underpinnings of gaze perception and their relation to social cognition. We address this gap. METHOD We recruited 77 SZ patients and 71 healthy controls, who completed various social-cognition tasks. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants (62 SZ, 54 controls) completed a gaze-perception task, where they judged whether faces with varying gaze angles were self-directed or averted; as a control condition, participants identified stimulus gender. Activation estimates were extracted based on (a) task versus baseline, (b) gaze-perception versus gender-identification, (c) parametric modulation by perception of stimuli as self-directed versus averted, and (d) parametric modulation by stimulus gaze angle. We used latent variable analysis to test associations among diagnostic group, brain activation, gaze perception, and social cognition. RESULTS Preferential activation to gaze perception was observed throughout dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, superior temporal sulcus, and insula. Activation was modulated by stimulus gaze angle and perception of stimuli as self-directed versus averted. More precise gaze perception and higher task-related activation were associated with better social cognition. Patients with SZ showed hyperactivation within left pre-/postcentral gyrus, which was associated with more precise gaze perception and fewer symptoms and thus may be a compensatory mechanism. CONCLUSIONS Neural and behavioral indices of gaze perception were related to social cognition, across patients and controls. This suggests gaze perception is an important perceptual building block for more complex social cognition. Results are discussed in the context of dimensional psychopathology and clinical heterogeneity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Scott D. Blain
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
| | - Stephan F. Taylor
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Saige E. Rutherford
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- Donders Center for Medical Neuroscience, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | | | - Beier Yao
- Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Mike Angstadt
- Functional MRI Lab, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Michael F. Green
- Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California Los Angeles, CA
- Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA
| | | | - Scott Peltier
- Functional MRI Lab, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Vaibhav A. Diwadkar
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
| | - Ivy F. Tso
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Mundy P. Research on social attention in autism and the challenges of the research domain criteria (RDoC) framework. Autism Res 2023; 16:697-712. [PMID: 36932883 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
Abstract
The fuzzy nature of categories of psychopathology, such as autism, leads to significant research challenges. Alternatively, focusing research on the study of a common set of important and well-defined psychological constructs across psychiatric conditions may make the fundamental etiological processes of psychopathology easier to discern and treat (Cuthbert, 2022). The development of the research domain criteria (RDoC) framework is designed to guide this new research approach (Insel et al., 2010). However, progress in research may be expected to continually refine and reorganize the understanding of the specifics of these mental processes (Cuthbert & Insel, 2013). Moreover, knowledge gleaned from the study of both normative and atypical development can be mutually informative in the evolution of our understanding of these fundamental processes. A case in point is the study of social attention. This Autism 101 commentary provides an educational summary of research over the last few decades indicates that social attention is major construct in the study of human social-cognitive development, autism and other forms of psychopathology. The commentary also describes how this research can inform the Social Process dimension of the RDoC framework.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peter Mundy
- School of Education, Department of Psychiatry and the MIND Institute, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Abstract
If somebody gazes at your left eye, you perceive them as looking straight at you. They switch their gaze with a single saccade to your right eye. You see their eyes move, yet they paradoxically end up still looking straight at you. Comparable paradoxical effects can arise when you view your own selfie image on a phone screen-but not when you look in a mirror.
Collapse
|
4
|
Tso IF, Lasagna CA, Fitzgerald KD, Colombi C, Sripada C, Peltier SJ, Johnson TD, Thakkar KN. Disrupted Eye Gaze Perception as a Biobehavioral Marker of Social Dysfunction: An RDoC Investigation. JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY AND BRAIN SCIENCE 2020; 5:e200021. [PMID: 33072887 PMCID: PMC7566880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Social dysfunction is an intractable problem in a wide spectrum of psychiatric illnesses, undermining patients' capacities for employment, independent living, and maintaining meaningful relationships. Identifying common markers of social impairment across disorders and understanding their mechanisms are prerequisites to developing targeted neurobiological treatments that can be applied productively across diagnoses and illness stages to improve functional outcome. This project focuses on eye gaze perception, the ability to accurately and efficiently discriminate others' gaze direction, as a potential biomarker of social functioning that cuts across psychiatric diagnoses. This premise builds on both the monkey and human literatures showing gaze perception as a basic building block supporting higher-level social communication and social development, and reports of abnormal gaze perception in multiple psychiatric conditions accompanied by prominent social dysfunction (e.g., psychosis-spectrum disorders, autism-spectrum disorders, social phobia). A large sample (n = 225) of adolescent and young adult (age 14-30) psychiatric patients (regardless of diagnosis) with various degrees of impaired social functioning, and demographically-matched healthy controls (n = 75) will be recruited for this study. Participant's psychiatric phenotypes, cognition, social cognition, and community functioning will be dimensionally characterized. Eye gaze perception will be assessed using a psychophysical task, and two metrics (precision, self-referential bias) that respectively tap into gaze perception disturbances at the visual perceptual and interpretation levels, independent of general deficits, will be derived using hierarchical Bayesian modeling. A subset of the participants (150 psychiatric patients, 75 controls) will additionally undergo multimodal fMRI to determine the functional and structural brain network features of altered gaze perception. The specific aims of this project are three-fold: (1) Determine the generality of gaze perception disturbances in psychiatric patients with prominent social dysfunction; (2) Map behavioral indices of gaze perception disturbances to dimensions of psychiatric phenotypes and core functional domains; and (3) Identify the neural correlates of altered gaze perception in psychiatric patients with social dysfunction. Successfully completing these specific aims will identify the specific basic deficits, clinical profile, and underlying neural circuits associated with social dysfunction that can be used to guide targeted, personalized treatments, thus advancing NIMH's Strategic Objective 1 (describe neural circuits associated with mental illnesses and map the connectomes for mental illnesses) and Objective 3 (develop new treatments based on discoveries in neuroscience and behavioral science).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ivy F. Tso
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, MI 48109, USA,Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, MI 48109, USA,Correspondence: Ivy F. Tso,
| | - Carly A. Lasagna
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, MI 48109, USA
| | - Kate D. Fitzgerald
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, MI 48109, USA,Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, MI 48109, USA
| | - Costanza Colombi
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, MI 48109, USA
| | - Chandra Sripada
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, MI 48109, USA
| | - Scott J. Peltier
- Functional MRI Laboratory, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, MI 48109, USA,Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, MI 48109, USA
| | - Timothy D. Johnson
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, MI 48109, USA
| | - Katharine N. Thakkar
- Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East
Lansing, Michigan, MI 48824, USA
| |
Collapse
|