Theory of mind performance using a story comprehension task in bipolar mania compared to schizophrenia and healthy controls.
BACKGROUND
Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability to understand the mental state of self and others. There is limited research into this topic in bipolar disorder (BD), with no previous study examining ToM in a BD group within a psychotic manic phase.


METHODS
Twenty-eight psychotic manic BD patients were compared with 30 schizophrenia (SCZ) patients and 29 healthy controls (HC). Participants performed a ToM story comprehension task that compared ToM stories and non-ToM stories (which we relabelled non-ToM "semantic" stories). Performance was examined by answering comprehension questions.


RESULTS
Both patient groups were equally impaired on their scores for ToM stories (scores BD = 10/24, SCZ = 9/24, HC = 14/24, p < .001). Interestingly, both patient groups showed reduced performance on non-ToM semantic stories (scores BD = 12/24, SCZ = 9/24, HC = 15/24, p < .001); SCZ showed a larger deficit. Reduced ToM performance was correlated with delusion severity in the BD group only.


CONCLUSIONS
ToM performance was impaired in BD patients experiencing psychotic symptoms. Patient performance was also impaired on the control condition (i.e., non-ToM semantic stories) supporting an additional deficit in semantic processing.
a Brain and Psychological Sciences Research Centre, Faculty of Life and Social Sciences , Swinburne University , Melbourne , Australia.
Susan L
SL
Rossell
Tamsyn E
TE
Van Rheenen
D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D032882:Comprehension; D003702:Delusions / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D056345:Theory of Mind; D055815:Young Adult