title: Pattern of brain activation during social cognitive tasks is related to social competence in siblings discordant for schizophrenia.
abstract: Measures of social competence are closely related to actual community functioning in patients with schizophrenia. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying competence in schizophrenia are not fully understood. We hypothesized that social deficits in schizophrenia are explained, at least in part, by abnormally lateralized patterns of brain activation in response to tasks engaging social cognition, as compared to healthy individuals. We predicted such patterns would be partly heritable, and therefore affected in patients' nonpsychotic siblings as well. We used a functional magnetic resonance image paradigm to characterize brain activation induced by theory of mind tasks, and two tests of social competence, the Test of Adaptive Behavior in Schizophrenia (TABS), and the Social Skills Performance Assessment (SSPA) in siblings discordant for schizophrenia and comparable healthy controls (n = 14 per group). Healthy individuals showed the strongest correlation between social competence and activation of right hemisphere structures involved in social cognitive processing, whereas in patients, the correlation pattern was lateralized to left hemisphere areas. Unaffected siblings of patients exhibited a pattern intermediate between the other groups. These results support the hypothesis that schizophrenia may be characterized by an abnormal functioning of nondominant hemisphere structures involved in the processing of socially salient information.
authors.affiliation: National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, Buenos Aires C1033AAJ, Argentina; Departament of Physics, School of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Neurology, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Psychiatry, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina.
authors.forename: Mirta F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Villarreal
authors.affiliation: National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, Buenos Aires C1033AAJ, Argentina; Department of Mental Health, FLENI Teaching Unit, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Montañeses 2325, 8th Floor, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Neurology, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Psychiatry, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina.
authors.forename: Lucas J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Drucaroff
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health, FLENI Teaching Unit, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Montañeses 2325, 8th Floor, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Neurology, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Psychiatry, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina.
authors.forename: Micaela G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Goldschmidt
authors.affiliation: National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, Buenos Aires C1033AAJ, Argentina; Department of Mental Health, FLENI Teaching Unit, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Montañeses 2325, 8th Floor, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Neurology, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Psychiatry, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina.
authors.forename: Delfina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: de Achával
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health, FLENI Teaching Unit, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Montañeses 2325, 8th Floor, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Psychiatry, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina.
authors.forename: Elsa Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Costanzo
authors.affiliation: National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, Buenos Aires C1033AAJ, Argentina; Department of Mental Health, FLENI Teaching Unit, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Montañeses 2325, 8th Floor, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Neurology, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Psychiatry, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina.
authors.forename: Mariana N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.affiliation: National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, Buenos Aires C1033AAJ, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Neurology, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Psychiatry, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina.
authors.forename: M Soledad
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Ladrón-de-Guevara
authors.affiliation: Nucleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Neurociência Aplicada, Universidade de São Paulo (NAPNA-USP), Brazil.
authors.forename: Geraldo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Busatto Filho
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, 1120 Northwest 14 St., Suite 1455, Miami, FL 33136, USA.
authors.forename: Charles B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Nemeroff
authors.affiliation: National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, Buenos Aires C1033AAJ, Argentina; Department of Mental Health, FLENI Teaching Unit, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Montañeses 2325, 8th Floor, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; Department of Neurophysiology, School of Psychology, University of Buenos Aires, Hipólito Yrigoyen 3242, Buenos Aires C1207ABQ, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Neurology, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina; FLENI, Department of Psychiatry, Montañeses 2325, Buenos Aires C1428AQK, Argentina. Electronic address: sguinjoan@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Salvador M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Guinjoan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D035781:Siblings; D012919:Social Behavior; D066107:Social Skills; D056345:Theory of Mind
keywords: Hemispheric dominance; Lateralization; Schizophrenia; Siblings; Social skills; fMRI