Episodic future thinking (EFT) involves the ability to imagine future events and is closely related to personal goals. Schizophrenia patients are impaired in EFT. The best possible self is a representation of personal goals and can be integrated with EFT intervention. Few studies considered the role of personal goals or examined the neural basis of EFT improvements in schizophrenia patients. The present study aimed to fill these gaps. We hypothesized that the Best Possible Self based Future Specificity (BPSFS) intervention could improve EFT in schizophrenia patients and personal goals would play an important role. Moreover, altered functional connectivity in the default mode network may underlie the intervention effect. In our study, sixty schizophrenia patients were recruited, randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 29) and control group (n = 31), and completed the study. The intervention group completed a four-week eight-session BPSFS training and the control group completed psychoeducation with the same sessions. EFT tasks with different goal types, future goal fluency task, and resting-state magnetic resonance imaging were completed before and after the treatment. The BPSFS intervention significantly improved the EFT specificity, and the future goal fluency improvement partially mediated this effect. Furthermore, the intervention group showed increased functional connectivity between the temporal parietal junction and frontal pole, which was associated with EFT specificity improvement. Taken together, these findings indicate that the BPSFS intervention could enhance EFT ability in schizophrenia patients, and the underlying neural basis might involve increased functional connectivity in the temporal parietal junction.

Dysfunction of autobiographical memory (AM) is one of the core markers of psychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. However, it remains unclear whether there is a common neural basis underlying AM impairment across psychiatric patients. In this study, a systematic review and meta-analysis using both Seed-based d Mapping with Permutation of Subject Images (SDM-PSI) and Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) approaches were conducted to examine brain activation differences between psychiatric populations and healthy controls during AM. A computerized search was performed using the databases Web of Science, PubMed, APA PsycInfo and EBSCO to identify relevant studies published from inception to 31 October 2025. Twenty-four studies (1385 participants) were identified for the qualitative synthesis and 12 studies (547 participants) for the meta-analysis. The qualitative analysis revealed widespread abnormalities in psychiatric patients in both activation and functional connectivity (FC) across default mode network, salience and attentional network, control network and visual network. Meta-analysis results indicated that patients with psychiatric disorders exhibited hyperactivations in the cingulate cortex, and subsequent meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) analysis demonstrated its widespread co-activation with large-scale functional networks. These findings suggest the network-level dysfunction across psychiatric disorders during AM process and provide insights for future clinical research.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has been linked to impairments in executive functions (EF), yet findings remain inconsistent across studies. Clarifying the magnitude and specificity of EF deficits in NSSI, as well as potential sources of heterogeneity, is critical for advancing theoretical models and informing intervention strategies. A systematic search was conducted across Web of Science, PubMed, and EBSCO databases to identify studies examining the association between NSSI and EF. A total of 33 studies (N = 4,639) met inclusion criteria. Effect sizes were calculated and pooled using random-effects models. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses were performed to examine potential moderators, including EF components, comorbidity status, task characteristics, NSSI measurement methods, and demographic variables. Results revealed a small but significant negative association between NSSI and overall EF ( d = − 0.26), indicating poorer EF among individuals with NSSI. At the component level, significant deficits were observed in cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control, although effect sizes did not differ significantly across components. Moderator analyses indicated no significant effects of comorbidity status, emotionality of EF tasks, or NSSI measurement methods. Similarly, age, gender composition, and past-year NSSI incidence were not significantly associated with EF impairments. These findings support a domain-general impairment in EF among individuals with NSSI. Although modest in magnitude, these deficits may reflect a broader limitation in cognitive control that contributes to difficulties in emotion regulation. Future research should adopt longitudinal and ecologically valid approaches to clarify causal mechanisms and better capture context-dependent cognitive-affective dynamics.

Schizophrenia exhibits impairments in remembering the past (autobiographical memory, AM) and imagining the future (episodic future thinking, EFT). Childhood trauma is also associated with deficits in AM and EFT. However, it is not clear whether childhood trauma is associated with severer deficits in AM and EFT in schizophrenia. The present study aimed to examine the effect of childhood trauma on AM and EFT in schizophrenia. We recruited 41 schizophrenia patients with childhood trauma (SCZ + CT), 19 schizophrenia patients without childhood trauma (SCZ - CT), and 40 healthy controls (HC) to participate in this study. Participants underwent the autobiographical interview task, in which they were required to remember or imagine the most important events that occurred or would occur at different times and describe them. Results showed that SCZ + CT exhibited fewer internal details, and lower specificity, time/place richness, and thought/emotion richness in both AM and EFT compared with HC. Meanwhile, SCZ - CT showed lower time/place richness and thought/emotion richness in AM and EFT than HC. However, no significant difference was found between the two patient groups. In addition, AM showed more internal details and stronger phenomenological characteristics (e.g., specificity, time/place richness, etc.) than EFT, while EFT was more positive and important than AM in all participants. Both SCZ + CT and SCZ - CT groups exhibited AM and EFT impairments, and the SCZ + CT group had wider impairments than the SCZ - CT group compared with HC, although the direct comparison between SCZ + CT and SCZ - CT did not show significant differences. These results suggest that childhood trauma had a subtle effect on AM and EFT impairments in schizophrenia patients.

Aim Mental time travel (MTT) is a cognitive capacity to mentally re-experience past events and anticipate future possibilities. Self-related MTT events have stronger vividness and sense of experience than events related to others, i.e., the “self-advantage effect”. This effect is diminished in individuals with high schizotypal traits (HST) who are at risk for schizophrenia. However, the neural correlates of this effect remain unclear. The present study aimed to examine this issue through resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Methods Thirty-nine individuals with HST and 38 individuals with low schizotypal traits (LST) were recruited. They completed the self/other-related MTT task and underwent rs-fMRI scanning. Results In HST, the “self-advantage effect” on specificity was positively correlated with functional connectivity (FC) between the right precuneus and bilateral frontal pole, left temporal pole, and the posterior cingulate cortex, whereas this association was negative in individuals with LST. Additionally, the “self-advantage effect” on emotional intensity was negatively associated with FC between the left precuneus and middle cingulate cortex in HST, but positively associated in LST. Conclusions People with HST have altered association patterns between the “self-advantage effect” in MTT and resting-state FC. The “self-advantage effect” in MTT may be a potential target for intervention in the schizophrenia spectrum.

Mental time travel (MTT) is a crucial ability for daily life. Personal goal-related MTT events has stronger phenomenological characteristics than personal goal-unrelated ones, ie, the "personal goal-advantage effect". However, it remains unclear whether this effect is impacted in individuals with high schizotypal traits (HST) and the neural correlates of this effect have yet to be elucidated. The present study aimed to fill these knowledge gaps. We hypothesized that HST would show a reduced "personal goal-advantage effect" in MTT and would exhibit altered relationships with resting-state functional connectivity. In Study 1, 37 HST and 40 individuals with low schizotypal traits (LST) were recruited. Participants generated MTT events with personal goal-related and personal goal-unrelated cues. In Study 2, 39 HST and 38 LST were recruited, they completed the same behavioral task and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. Both Study 1 and Study 2 revealed that HST exhibited reduced "personal goal-advantage effect" on MTT specificity. Moreover, Study 2 showed that compared with LST, HST exhibited altered association between the "personal goal-advantage effect" and functional connectivity (ie, between the right precuneus and the left postcentral gyrus and "personal goal-advantage effect" on emotional valence, between the left hippocampus and the right temporal fusiform gyrus and "personal goal-advantage effect" on emotional intensity). These findings suggest that HST exhibit a reduced "personal goal-advantage effect" in MTT specificity and altered neural correlates related to this effect. The "personal goal-advantage effect" may be a potential target for intervention in HST.

Episodic future thinking (EFT) has important functions in people’s daily life and was found to be impaired in patients with psychiatric diseases. Studies have been carried out to improve EFT, while results were mixed. The present study aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to examine the overall effect of intervention on EFT, and potential moderators. A literature search was performed in the PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, and EBSCO databases to identify relevant studies that were published up to June 18, 2024. Controlled intervention studies, pre-post studies, and case series studies were included. We focused on studies recruiting participants aged 16 or higher. A total of 30 studies involving 1881 participants were included. Results showed that most of the included studies used cognitive intervention. Intervention improved overall EFT, with a medium to large effect size [SMD = 0.61, 95

Background Mind wandering is a common phenomenon in daily life. However, the manifestations and cognitive correlates of mind wandering in different subclinical populations remain unclear. In this study, these aspects were examined in individuals with schizotypal traits and individuals with depressive symptoms, i.e., subclinical populations of patients with schizophrenia and depression.Methods Forty-two individuals with schizotypal traits, 42 individuals with subclinical depression, and 42 controls were recruited to complete a mind wandering thought sampling task (state level) and a mind wandering questionnaire (trait level). Measures of rumination and cognitive functions (attention, inhibition, and working memory) were also completed by participants.Results Both subclinical groups exhibited more state and trait mind wandering than did the control group. Furthermore, individuals with schizotypal traits demonstrated more trait mind wandering than individuals with subclinical depression. Rumination, sustained attention, and working memory were associated with mind wandering. In addition, mind wandering in individuals with subclinical depression can be accounted for by rumination or attention, while mind wandering in individuals with high schizotypal traits cannot be accounted for by rumination, attention, or working memory.Conclusions The results suggest that individuals with high schizotypal traits and subclinical depression have different patterns of mind wandering and mechanisms. These findings have implications for understanding the unique profile of mind wandering in subclinical individuals.

BackgroundRepetitive thoughts are usually associated with psychopathology. The Future-oriented Repetitive Thought (FoRT) Scale is a measure designed to capture frequency of repetitive thought about positive and negative future events. However, the validity of the scale in Chinese population and its application in the schizophrenia spectrum have not been examined.MethodsThe current study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the FoRT scale and to apply it to the schizophrenia spectrum. In Study 1, three samples (total N=1875) of university students were recruited for exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and validity test, respectively. In Study 2, we identified subsamples with high schizotypal traits (N=89) and low schizotypal traits (N=89), and recruited 36 inpatients with schizophrenia and 41 matched healthy controls.ResultsThe three-factor (pessimistic repetitive future thinking, repetitive thinking about future goals, and positive indulging about the future) structure of the FoRT scale with one item deleted, fitted the Chinese samples. And the scale could distinguish patients with schizophrenia and individuals with high schizotypal traits from controls.ConclusionThese findings support that the Chinese version of the FoRT scale is a valid tool and provide evidence for the potential applications in the schizophrenia spectrum.

Mental time travel (MTT) is the ability to project oneself to the past or future through mental simulation. Moreover, MTT can involve self-related or other-related information. This study aimed to compare MTT in individuals with high levels of schizotypy and that in their counterparts with low levels of schizotypy. Participants with high (n = 37) and low (n = 37) levels of schizotypy completed an MTT task with four conditions [2 (Condition: self vs. other) × 2 (Time orientation: past vs. future)]. They were required to recall past events that had happened to themselves or to a non-intimate person, and to imagine possible future events that might happen to themselves or to a non-intimate person, related to cue words. Outcome measures included specificity, vividness, sense of experience, emotional valence, emotional intensity, proportion of first-person visual perspective in events, and difficulty in event generation. A 2 (Group: high vs. low levels of schizotypy) × 2 (Condition) × 2 (Time orientation) mixed analysis of variance was conducted on each index. Results showed that self-related MTT was more specific than other-related MTT in low levels of schizotypy participants but not in high levels of schizotypy participants. Participants with a high level of schizotypy reported fewer specific events, and reported events with lower vividness and positive emotion than did those with a low level of schizotypy. Self-related MTT showed higher levels of phenomenological characteristics than did other-related MTT. In conclusion, individuals with a high level of schizotypy have altered MTT, and cannot benefit from the self-advantage effect on the specificity of MTT.

BACKGROUND:Mental time travel (MTT) is the ability to re-experience past events (autobiographic memory, AM) and pre-experience possible future events (episodic future thinking, EFT) through mental simulation. Empirical findings suggest that individuals with high level of schizotypy exhibit MTT impairment. However, the neural correlates of this impairment remain unclear.METHOD:Thirty-eight individuals with high level of schizotypy and 35 low level of schizotypy were recruited to complete an MTT imaging paradigm. Participants were required to recall past events (AM condition), imagine possible future events (EFT condition) related to cue words, or generate exemplars related to category words (control condition) while undergoing functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).RESULTS:AM showed greater activation in precuneus, bilateral posterior cingulate cortex, thalamus, and middle frontal gyrus than EFT. Individuals with high level of schizotypy exhibited reduced activation in the left anterior cingulate cortex during AM (vs. Control) and in the medial frontal gyrus during EFT (vs. Control) compared to individuals with low level of schizotypy. Although psychophysiological interaction analyses did not show any significant group difference, individuals with high level of schizotypy exhibited functional connectivity between left anterior cingulate cortex (seed) and right thalamus, between medial frontal gyrus (seed) and left cerebellum during MTT, whereas individuals with low level of schizotypy did not exhibit these functional connectivities.CONCLUSION:These findings suggest that decreased brain activations may underlie MTT deficits in individuals with high level of schizotypy.

The adaptive function of balanced time perspective is widely acknowledged within positive psychology, yet little is known regarding the expression of time perspective in clinical populations and its relation to clinical features. The current study aimed to examine the nature of time perspective in schizophrenia and to determine whether alterations in balanced time perspective is associated with maladaptive outcomes in terms of clinical and cognitive symptoms. A total of 104 patients with schizophrenia and 93 matched healthy controls participated in this study. Time perspective, negative symptoms, working memory and response inhibition was measured. Results showed that patients with schizophrenia manifested lower balanced time perspective with marginal significance in the context of impaired working memory but intact response inhibition. Correlation analyses revealed that deviation from balanced time perspective in schizophrenia was negatively associated with working memory capacity, as well as positively associated with negative symptoms such as affective blunting and anhedonia. Our findings point to working memory impairments as a candidate cognitive mechanism underpinning the deviation from balanced time perspective in schizophrenia. We further demonstrate a link between deviation from balanced time perspective and clinical symptomatology in schizophrenia, offering potential avenues for remediation strategies.

This study demonstrated that the higher stop-signal probability condition showed a longer go reaction time and shorter stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) compared with the lower stop-signal probability condition. In addition, preparation cost was correlated with SSRT. These results suggest that preparation facilitates response inhibition.

Introduction: Patients with schizophrenia exhibit prospective memory (PM) impairment. Intraindividual reaction time variability (IIRTV) is an index of attentional control that is required for PM. This study examined the differences in IIRTV between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls and the relationship between IIRTV and PM performance.Method: Thirty-nine patients with schizophrenia and forty-two healthy controls were recruited to complete a PM task and the Sustained Attention to Response Task. IIRTV was calculated as the coefficient of variation (mean/SD) of reaction time over correctly responded trials in these tasks.Results: Patients with schizophrenia showed lower PM accuracy and increased IIRTV, while the associations between PM accuracy and IIRTV were significant in healthy controls but not in patients with schizophrenia.Conclusion: These findings suggest impaired PM and relationship between PM and attentional control in patients with schizophrenia.

Schizotypal traits can be conceptualized as a phenotype for schizophrenia spectrum disorders. As such, a better understanding of schizotypal traits could potentially improve early identification and treatment of schizophrenia. We used connectome-based predictive modelling (CPM) based on whole-brain resting-state functional connec-tivity to predict schizotypal traits in 82 healthy participants. Results showed that only the negative network could reliably predict an individual's schizotypal traits (r = 0.29). The 10 nodes with the highest edges in the negative network were those known to play a key role in sensation and perception, cognitive control as well as motor control. Our findings suggest that CPM might be a promising approach to improve early identification and prevention of schizophrenia from a spectrum perspective.

Negative association was found between the frontal theta/beta ratio and mind wandering in participants with high schizotypal traits, while no such association was found in participants with low schizotypal traits. These findings provide insights into the neural mechanism of mind wandering in individuals with high schizotypal traits.

The present study aimed to examine whether impairments in reactive (outright stopping) and proactive (preparation for stopping) response inhibition are affected by negative emotions in individuals with high schizotypy, a subclinical group at risk for schizophrenia, as well as the neural mechanisms underlying these processes. Twenty-seven participants with high schizotypy and 28 matched low-schizotypy individuals completed an emotional stop-signal task in which they responded to facial emotions (neutral or angry) or inhibited their responses (when the frame of the picture turned red). Electroencephalogram (EEG) data were also recorded during the task. At the neural level, analysis of go trials revealed that viewing angry faces impaired proactive inhibition. In addition, the high-schizotypy group exhibited a greater P3 amplitude in go trials in the neutral condition than the low-schizotypy group; however, no group difference was found in the angry condition. For stop trials (reactive inhibition), a smaller P3 amplitude was found in the angry condition than in the neutral condition. Moreover, high-schizotypy individuals showed smaller P3 amplitudes than low-schizotypy individuals. The current findings suggest that, at the neural level, viewing negative emotions impaired both proactive and reactive response inhibition. Individuals with high schizotypy exhibited impairments in proactive response inhibition in the neutral condition but not in the angry condition; they exhibited impaired reactive response inhibition in both emotion conditions. The present findings deepen our understanding of emotional response inhibition in individuals on the schizophrenia spectrum.

Sex differences in various aspects of behaviour and cognition have been widely observed. Few studies, however, have explored potential sex differences in maintaining a balanced time perspective or their underlying neural correlates. To address these questions, two studies were conducted. In Study 1, time perspective was assessed in 1913 college students (796 males and 1117 females), revealing that females had a significantly more balanced time perspective relative to males. In Study 2, 58 males and 47 females underwent an assessment of time perspective and structural brain imaging. Voxel-based morphometry analysis and cortical thickness analysis were conducted to explore associations between the structural imaging data and balanced time perspective. Compared with males, females demonstrated a more balanced time perspective in the context of lower grey matter volume in the bilateral precuneus, right cerebellum, right putamen and left supplementary motor area. Analysis of cortical thickness failed to reveal any significant sex differences. Furthermore, lower grey matter volume of bilateral precuneus was associated with more balanced time perspective among all participants. Our findings point to a critical role for the precuneus in modulating a balanced time perspective, and extend our understanding of sex differences in human cognition. Future studies are required to determine whether sex differences in balanced time perspective are predictive of functional outcomes in daily life.

Delay discounting (DD) refers to the phenomenon in which the subjective value of future rewards is reduced over time. There are individual differences in the DD rate, and increased discounting has been observed in those with various psychiatric disorders. Episodic future thinking (EFT) is the act of vividly imagining events that may happen in the future. Studies have shown that EFT could reduce DD, although inconsistent results have been reported. The aim of this meta-analysis was to clarify the efficacy with which EFT reduces DD and to identify potential moderators. Forty-seven studies (including 63 contrasts) were included in the final analysis. EFT was found to significantly reduce DD (Hedges’ g = 0.52). Moderator analysis showed that positive EFT ( g = 0.64) was more effective in reducing DD than EFT with the valence not specifically mentioned ( g = 0.28) and EFT with neutral or negative valence ( g = –0.03). In addition, several factors related to the control task and DD task were related to the efficacy of EFT to reduce DD. These findings have implications for using EFT to reduce DD in the future.

Schizotypal traits have been found to be negatively associated with satisfaction with life but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. This study investigated the association between schizotypal traits and satisfaction with life and explored the mediating role of trait anxiety and mind wandering in the relationship between those two variables in a sample of Chinese young adults. One hundred and two individuals with high schizotypal traits and 104 individuals with low schizotypal traits were screened using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. They completed a series of questionnaires including the Satisfaction with Life Scale, Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Mind Wandering Questionnaire. Results showed that: First, the high schizotypal trait group showed lower satisfaction with life, and higher trait anxiety and mind wandering frequency than the low schizotypal trait group. Second, the high schizotypal trait group, trait anxiety, and mind wandering negatively predicted satisfaction with life. Third, mediation analyses showed that all indirect effect paths in the mediation model were significant, that is, trait anxiety and mind wandering alone and together mediated the relationship between schizotypal trait group and satisfaction with life. In conclusion, high schizotypal trait is a risk factor for low satisfaction with life. The association between schizotypal traits and satisfaction with life was mediated by the combination of trait anxiety and mind wandering. This study has implications for improving life satisfaction in individuals with high schizotypal traits.