BACKGROUND:Although impairment in empathy has been reported in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, little is known about the relationship between empathy and schizotypal traits. This study examines this relationship by applying network analysis to a large sample collected at 18-months follow-up in a longitudinal dataset. METHODS:One thousand four hundred and eighty-six college students were recruited and completed a set of self-reported questionnaires on empathy, schizotypy, depression, anxiety and stress. Networks were constructed by taking the subscale scores of these measures as nodes and partial correlations between each pair of nodes as edges. Network Comparison Tests were performed to investigate the differences between individuals with high and low schizotypy. RESULTS:Cognitive and affective empathy were strongly connected with negative schizotypy in the network. Physical and social anhedonia showed high centrality measured by strength, closeness and betweenness while anxiety and stress showed high expected influence. Predictability ranged from 22.4% (personal distress) to 79.9% (anxiety) with an average of 54.4%. Compared with the low schizotypy group, the high schizotypy group showed higher global strength (S = 0.813, p < 0.05) and significant differences in network structure (M = 0.531, p < 0.001) and strength of edges connecting empathy with schizotypy (adjusted ps < 0.05). LIMITATIONS:Only self-rating scales were used, and disorganized schizotypy was not included. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings suggest that the cognitive and affective components of empathy and dimensions of schizotypy are closely related in the general population and their network interactions may play an important role in individuals with high schizotypy.

The frontopolar cortex (FPC) has particular importance in the treatment of major depression and recent neuroimaging studies suggested that the FPC further subdivides into distinct subregions, with each serving distinct functional roles. Study exploring nodes of functional networks showing abnormal connectivity to the FPC subregions could be useful in understanding depression pathology.

Abstract Background Although the deficits of empathy in schizophrenia spectrum disorders has been recognized in previous studies, little is known about the associations between empathy and schizotypal traits. In this study, we examined the associations among empathy, schizotypy and affective states using the psychological network analysis in a college sample to better understand the social cognition deficits in schizophrenia. Methods College students (n=1486; male = 574, female = 912; mean age=18.8 years; SD=0.85) were recruited and all of them finished self-reported questionnaire capturing empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index, IRI; four subscales: perspective taking, empathic concern, fantasy, personal distress), schizotypy (Wisconsin Psychosis Proneness Scales, including social anhedonia, physical anhedonia, magical ideation and perceptual aberration scales) and affective states (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, 21 items). There were significant sex differences on IRI (female > male for all four subscales, ps < 0.01), DASS depression (male > female, p < 0.01) and schizotypal traits (male > female, ps < 0.05) Psychological networks were constructed taking the subscales of measures as nodes and the edges representing the partial correlation between each pair of nodes controlling all other nodes were estimated using Gaussian graphical model in male and female sample, respectively. Also, the centrality indices, including strength, closeness and betweenness were calculated to identify the central nodes in the network. Results In males, cognitive empathy (perspective taking and fantasy) showed strong connections with physical anhedonia, while affective empathy (empathic concern) connected with social anhedonia and stress. Personal distress connected with magical ideation and anxiety; fantasy connected with magical ideation. Regarding the centrality, perceptual aberration had the strongest strength, followed by stress; social anhedonia had the highest closeness and betweenness. In females, cognitive empathy (perspective taking and fantasy) showed strong connection with physical anhedonia, affective empathy (empathic concern) connected with social anhedonia. Personal distress connected with anxiety; fantasy connected with magical ideation. Stress showed strongest strength, followed by anxiety and magical ideation; anxiety had highest betweenness; fantasy had highest closeness followed by social anhedonia. Discussion In the present study, we found that cognitive empathy was strongly connected with physical anhedonia, while affective empathy connected with social anhedonia, regardless of sex. In addition, our findings suggested different network interactions among empathy, schizotypal traits and affective states between males and females. The perceptual aberration and social anhedonia play a central role in the network of males while stress and anxiety are important in females.

Background: Impairment in facial emotion perception is an important domain of social cognition deficits in schizophrenia. Although impaired facial emotion perception has been found in individuals with negative schizotypy (NS), little is known about the corresponding change in brain functional connectivity. Methods: Sixty-four participants were classified into a high NS group (n = 34) and a low NS group (n = 30) based on their total scores on the Chapman scales for physical and social anhedonia. All participants undertook a facial emotion discrimination functional imaging task that consisted of four emotional valences (angry, fear, happy, and neutral). For univariate analysis, the signal change at the bilateral amygdala was compared for each emotional contrast using SPSS (P < .05). For the functional connectivity analysis, we calculated the beta-series functional connectivity of the bilateral amygdala with the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and compared the group differences in SPM12 (P < .05, small volume family-wise error correction). Results: No significant differences were found between the high and low NS groups in accuracy and reaction time in the facial emotion discrimination task. The high NS group showed reduced brain activations at the amygdala under fearful and neutral conditions. Reduced functional connectivity between the amygdala and the mPFC/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex under the happy and fearful conditions in the high NS group was also found. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the individuals with high NS showed altered brain activity and functional connectivity at the amygdala during facial emotion processing and provide new evidence for understanding social cognition deficits in at-risk individuals.

Schizotypy is a set of personality traits that convey liability to develop schizophrenia. Studying schizotypy in healthy individuals may facilitate the understanding of the psychopathological processes underlying schizophrenia. The present study aimed to examine the developmental trajectories of schizotypy over time using a longitudinal study design. The Chapman Scales for Psychosis Proneness were administered to 1541 college students at baseline, and subsequently at six-monthly intervals up to 18months. Latent class growth analysis was conducted to track the different trajectories. In addition, self-reported scales were used to measure idea of reference, emotional experiences and expression, stress and coping, as well as social functioning. We identified four latent classes with distinct trajectories: "nonschizotypy" group (LC1), "stable high schizotypy" group (LC3), "high reactive schizotypy" group (LC2) and "low reactive schizotypy" group (LC4). These findings suggest that there may be distinct developmental trajectories for schizotypy. Two groups may be of particular interest: the "stable high schizotypy" group that displayed the worst clinical and functioning outcomes on almost all measures and the "high reactive schizotypy" group characterized by a relatively rapid decline in functioning.

The present study aimed to explore the latent structure of the 21-item Peters et al. Delusions Inventory (PDI-21) and to test the invariance of its factor structure over time and across samples. The PDI-21 was administered in two samples; one consisting of 1655 undergraduate students investigated in three waves, each separated by six months; and another consisting of 196 outpatients with schizophrenia. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to explore the internal structure of the PDI-21 based on number of beliefs and the grand total scores separately. The number of factors was determined by optimal implementation of parallel analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis, cross-time and cross-sample invariance analyses were carried out with Mplus. Both exploratory factor analysis and the optimal implementation of parallel analysis (based on the number of beliefs and the total score of the PDI-21) suggested a one-factor solution. However, the confirmatory factor analysis revealed a single-dimension structure based on number of beliefs only, which exhibited goodness of fit and stability across time and samples. Our study demonstrated a single-dimension structure of the PDI-21, which can be widely used in screening the number of delusional ideations both in clinical and non-clinical populations.

The lateral habenula plays a central role in reward and punishment processing and has been suggested to drive the cardinal symptom of anhedonia in depression. This hypothesis is largely based on observations of habenula hypermetabolism in animal models of depression, but the activity of habenula and its relationship with clinical symptoms in patients with depression remains unclear. High-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and computational modelling were used to investigate the activity of the habenula during a probabilistic reinforcement learning task with rewarding and punishing outcomes in 21 unmedicated patients with major depression and 17 healthy participants. High-resolution anatomical scans were also acquired to assess group differences in habenula volume. Healthy individuals displayed the expected activation in the left habenula during receipt of punishment and this pattern was confirmed in the computational analysis of prediction error processing. In depressed patients, there was a trend towards attenuated left habenula activation to punishment, while greater left habenula activation was associated with more severe depressive symptoms and anhedonia. We also identified greater habenula volume in patients with depression, which was associated with anhedonic symptoms. Habenula dysfunction may contribute to abnormal response to punishment in patients with depression, and symptoms such as anhedonia.

Background: Anhedonia is a cardinal feature of major depression and is hypothesized to be driven by low motivation, in particular blunted reward sensitivity. It has been suggested to be a marker that represents a genetic predisposition to this disorder. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this heightened risk in unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with major depression. We previously demonstrated abnormal reward biases in acutely depressed patients. The present study aimed to examine the development of reward bias in first-degree relatives of patients with major depression.Methods: Forty-seven first-degree relatives of patients with major depression (26 females, age 18-52) and 60 healthy controls with no family history of depression (34 females, age 21-48) were recruited. A probabilistically rewarded difficult visual discrimination task, in which participants were instructed about the contingencies, was used to assess blunted reward sensitivity. A response bias towards the more frequently rewarded stimulus (termed "reward bias") was the primary outcome variable in this study. Participants also completed self-reported measures of anhedonia and depressive symptoms.Results: Compared with the control group, relatives of patients with major depression with sub-clinical depressive symptoms displayed a blunted reward bias. Relatives without symptoms displayed largely intact motivational processing on both self-report and experimental measures. The degree of anhedonia was associated with attenuated reward bias in first-degree relatives of patients with major depression, especially in those with sub-clinical symptoms.Limitations: The study did not include a depressed patient group, which restricted our ability to interpret the observed group differences.Conclusions: Blunted reward sensitivity may be largely manifested in a subgroup of relatives with high levels of depressive symptoms. (C)) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Empirical findings suggest an overlap between autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). Co-occurring autistic and positive schizotypal traits may have a moderating effect on behaviour and cognition. This study attempted to examine the co-occurrence rate of autistic and schizotypal traits in otherwise healthy college students and to test the moderating effect of co-occurring autistic and schizotypal traits on executive function, emotion processing and social function. Eight hundred and sixty-four participants took part in the present study. The results showed that the co-occurrence rate of autistic and schizotypal trait was 3.4% at baseline and 2.4% at one-year follow-up. The interaction between autistic traits and schizotypal traits was associated with better executive functioning and social functioning but poorer emotional expression.

According to Meehl’s model of schizotypy, there is a latent personality organization associated with the diathesis for schizophrenia that can be identified in several ways. We sought to examine the structural invariance of four Chapman psychosis–proneness scales (CPPS) across three groups of putative schizotypes, namely, clinically-, biologically-, and psychometrically-identified schizotypes. We examined the factor structure of the Perceptual Aberration (PER), Magical Ideation (MIS), Revised Social Anhedonia (RSAS), and Revised Physical Anhedonia (RPAS) scales in 196 schizophrenia patients, 197 non-psychotic first-degree relatives, and 1,724 non-clinical young adults. The confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the best-fitting model was one in which there is a two-factor model with negative schizotypy (RSAS and RPAS) and positive schizotypy (PER and MIS). All three samples fit the model well, with Comparative Fit Indices>0.95 and Tucker Lewis Indices>0.90. The root mean square error of approximations were all small ( P values⩽0.01). We also observed that for both anhedonia scales, the groups’ mean scale scores varied in the hypothesized direction, as predicted by Meehl’s model of schizotypy. All three Chinese samples, namely, the patients (clinical schizotypes), relatives (biologically-identified schizotypes), and non-clinical young adults (containing psychometrically-identified schizotypes) showed the same factorial structure. This finding supports the suitability of the CPPS for cross-cultural and/or genetic investigations of schizotypy.

Abnormal functional connectivity (FC) at rest has been identified in clinical depressive disorder. However, very few studies have been conducted to understand the underlying neural substrates of subclinical depression. The newly proposed centrality analysis approach has been increasingly used to explore the large-scale brain network of mental diseases. This study aimed to identify the degree centrality (DC) alteration of the brain network in subclinical depressive subjects. Thirty-seven candidates with subclinical depression and 34 well-matched healthy controls (HCs) were recruited from the same sample of college students. All subjects underwent a resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) scan to assess the DC of the whole brain. Compared with controls, subclinical depressive subjects displayed decreased DC in the right parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), left PHG/amygdala, and left caudate and elevated DC in the right posterior parietal lobule (PPL), left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and left middle frontal gyrus (MFG). In addition, by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, we determined that the DC values in the regions with altered FC between the two groups can be used to differentiate subclinical depressive subjects from HCs. We suggest that decreased DC in subcortical and increased DC in cortical regions might be the neural substrates of subclinical depression.

The underlying neural basis of non-clinical depressive symptoms (nCDSs) remains unclear. Interhemispheric functional connectivity has been suggested as one of the most robust characteristics of brain's intrinsic functional architecture. Here, we investigated the functional connectivity between homotopic points in the brain using the voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) approach. We performed VMHC analysis on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data from 17 individuals with nCDSs and 20 healthy controls (HCs) who were enrolled from a sample of 1105 college students. We found increased VMHCs in the bilateral posterior cerebellum and fusiform gyrus in nCDSs subjects compared with HCs. Furthermore, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves indicated that VMHC values in the posterior cerebellum lobes could use to differente nCDSs from HCs [area under the curve (AUC), 0.756; p<0.01]. We suggest increased VMHCs indicate a possible compensatory mechanism involved in the pathophysiology of nCDSs. VMHC values of the posterior cerebellum lobes might serve as a reliable biomarker for identifying nCDSs.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the factor structure and the temporal stability of the Chapman psychosis-proneness scales in a representative sample of nonclinical Chinese young adults. The four psychosis-proneness scales evaluated were the Perceptual Aberration (PAS), Magical Ideation (MIS), revised Social Anhedonia (RSAS), and revised Physical Anhedonia (RPAS) scales. The sample consisted of 1724 young adults with a mean age of 18.8 years (S.D.=0.84). The results of the confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the best fitting model was a two-factor model with positive schizotypy (PER and MIS) scales and negative schizotypy (RSAS and RPAS) scales. The data add to the growing literature indicating that the measurement of schizotypal traits is consistent across cultures. In addition, the results support the measurement invariance of the Chapman psychosis-proneness scales across time, i.e., there was ample evidence of test–retest reliability over a test interval of 6 months.

Impairment in empathy has been demonstrated in patients with schizophrenia and individuals with psychosis proneness. In the present study, we examined the neural correlates underlying theory of mind (ToM) and empathy and the relationships between these two social cognitive abilities with schizotypy. Fifty-six first-year college students (31 males, 25 females) between 17 and 21 years of age (M = 19.3, SD = 0.9) from a medical university in China participated. All participants undertook a comic strips functional imaging task that specifically examined both empathy and ToM. In addition, they completed two self-report scales: the Chapman Psychosis Proneness scale and the Interpersonal Responsivity Index (IRI). Results showed that both empathy and ToM conditions of the task were associated with brain activity in the middle temporal gyrus, the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), the precuneus and the posterior cingulate gyrus. In addition, we found positive correlations between negative schizotypy and brain activity in regions involved in social cognition, namely, the middle temporal gyrus, the TPJ, as well as the medial prefrontal gyrus. These findings highlight that different dimensions of schizotypy may show different associations with brain regions involved in social cognitive abilities. More importantly, the positive correlation between brain activity and anhedonia suggests the presence of compensatory mechanisms in high-risk populations.

Previous studies have established a linkage between olfactory deficits and negative symptoms in schizophrenia. However, it is not known whether olfactory function is associated with hedonic traits in individuals with schizotypy. Seventeen individuals with schizotypy and 18 age- and sex-matched controls participated in this study. Hedonic traits were assessed with the Chapman Scales for Physical and Social Anhedonia (CSAS and CPAS). Olfactory function was assessed with the Sniffin' Stick Test (olfactory threshold, odour discrimination and odour identification). All participants undertook a structural imaging scan for grey matter volume measurements. Individuals with schizotypy had significantly higher CSAS and CPAS scores than healthy controls. They had normal olfactory function. Their odour identification ability was inversely correlated with physical and social anhedonia. The volume of the right parahippocampal gyrus was positively associated with odour identification ability, and negatively associated with physical and social anhedonia. Furthermore, mediation analysis suggested that odour identification ability influences anhedonia through its effect on the right parahippocampal gyrus. No such relationship was found in controls. These findings suggest that there is a relationship between odour identification and anhedonia in individuals with schizotypy, and the association may be mediated by parahippocampal gyrus volume.

目的 分析非临床抑郁症状(nCDSs)被试杏仁核及海马静息态功能连接的特征.方法 采用贝克抑郁量表(BDI)对1105名大学生进行抑郁症状评估,对其中17例符合nCDSs的被试(nCDSs组)及20名对照组被试进行静息态fMRI检查.以双侧杏仁核及海马为种子点,分别对全脑进行基于体素的rsFC分析,比较两组间的rsFC差异,并与nCDSs者的BDI评分进行相关分析.结果 与对照组比较,nCDSs组以双侧杏仁核为种子点,右侧眶额叶内侧面rsFC均增强;以左侧海马为种子点,右侧枕叶舌回、双侧额叶直回及左侧楔前叶rsFC增强;以右侧海马为种子点,右侧小脑后叶、右侧枕叶舌回、双侧额叶直回、左侧楔前叶及左侧中央旁小叶rsFC增强.nCDSs被试双侧杏仁核及海马rsFC改变与BDI评分无相关性(P＞0.05).结论 nCDSs被试杏仁核及海马的rsFC存在异常,可能在nCDSs的病理机制中发挥重要作用.

目的 研究非临床抑郁症状(nCDSs)静息态脑自发活动局部一致性的特征.方法 对1105名大学生采用贝克抑郁量表(BDI)进行抑郁症状评估,对其中17名符合nCDSs的被试及20名健康志愿者进行静息态fMRI检查.采用KCC-ReHo方法分析两组被试脑自发活动局部一致性的差异,并分析两组差异脑区ReHo值与抑郁症状评分的相关性;使用受试者工作特征曲线(ROC)分析判别两组被试差异的ReHo值的界值(Cut-off)及其灵敏度及特异度;进一步采用Fisher逐步判别分析法确定两组特异性差异脑区.结果 左侧颞中回、右侧角回/颞上回、右侧额下回、左侧额中回对两组被试判别平均精确度为97.5％.结论 nCDSs被试多个脑区自发活动局部一致性存在异常,这种改变可能是诊断nCDSs的潜在的生物学指标.

Non-clinical depressive symptoms (nCDSs) are highly prevalent in young adults and may be associated with the risk of developing full-fledged depressive disorders. However, the neural basis underlying nCDSs remains unknown. To explore the alteration of spontaneous brain activity in individuals with nCDSs compared with healthy controls (HCs), we investigated resting-state brain activity using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) in subjects with nCDSs (n=17) and HCs (n=20). All subjects were drawn from a sample of 1105 college students participating in a survey assessing depressive symptoms. We determined that nCDSs can lead to reduced ALFF in the right ventral lateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and to increased ALFF in the left fusiform, left posterior cerebellum, right cuneus, left inferior parietal lobule, right supramarginal gyrus and bilateral precuneus. In addition, with respect to Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores and ALFF values in subjects with nCDSs, a positive correlation was discovered in the right DLPFC, while a negative correlation was identified in left posterior cerebellum and bilateral precuneus after correction. These results indicate that nCDSs are characterized by altered spontaneous activity in several important functional regions. We suggest that altered ALFFs in the right DLPFC, left posterior cerebellum and bilateral precuneus may be biomarkers that are related to the pathophysiology of nCDSs in young adults.