title: The neuroanatomical basis of affective mentalizing in schizophrenia: comparison of patients with schizophrenia and patients with localized prefrontal lesions.
abstract: Patients with schizophrenia show impaired emotional and social behavior, such as misinterpretation of social situations and lack of Theory of Mind (ToM). However, the neuroanatomical basis of impaired ToM and its nature in schizophrenia is still largely unknown. Based on previous findings, the present study suggests that impaired social cognition observed in schizophrenic patients may be similar to that observed in patients with prefrontal (PFC) damage due to impaired 'affective ToM' abilities, rather than to a general impairment in ToM. We examined the behavioral and neural mechanisms that underlie the social and communicative impairments observed in patients with schizophrenia and with PFC damage, by looking at differential patterns of ToM impairment in these individuals. The performance of 24 patients with schizophrenia was compared to the responses of patients with localized lesions in the ventromedial (VM) or dorsolateral PFC, patients with non-frontal lesions, and healthy control subjects. Patients with schizophrenia and those with VM lesions were impaired on 'affective ToM' tasks but not in cognitive ToM conditions. It was concluded that the pattern of mentalizing impairments in schizophrenia resembled those seen in patients with lesions of the frontal lobe, particularly with VM damage, providing support for the notion of a disturbance of the fronto-limbic circuits in schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Brain and Behavior Center, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. sshamay@psy.haifa.ac.il
authors.forename: Simone G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Shamay-Tsoory
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aharon-Peretz
authors.forename: Yechiel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Levkovitz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003142:Communication; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D018187:Personal Construct Theory; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior