Social cognition in psychosis: Predictors and effects of META-cognitive training

Publication date: Available online 19 June 2019Source: Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological PsychiatryAuthor(s): Aldara Alvarez-Astorga, Eva Sotelo, Alba Lubeiro, Rodrigo de Luis, Javier Gomez-Pilar, Begoña Becoechea, Vicente MolinaAbstractSocial cognition deficits are found in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but its neural underpinnings are poorly understood. Given the complexity of psychological functions underlying this kind of cognition, we hypothesized that alterations in global structural connectivity could contribute to those deficits. To test this hypothesis, we studied a group of schizophrenia and bipolar patients with connectomics based on diffusion magnetic resonance imaging and assessments of general and social cognition. The latter was assessed using the Mayer, Salovey and Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) for emotional intelligence and the Spanish Group for Schizophrenia Treatment Optimization (Grupo Español para la OPtimización del Tratamiento de la Esquizofrenia, GEOPTE) test for behavioral aspects of social cognition. Graph theory applied to fractional anisotropy for the connections among cortical regions was used to obtain the small-world (SW) index of the structural connectivity network. In addition, we assessed the possibility of predicting the response of social cognition deficits to Meta-cognitive Training based on their possible underpinnings in a subgroup of patients. Patients showed lower scores in emotional intelligenc...
Source: Progress in Neuro Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research