title: Plasma oxytocin levels predict social cue recognition in individuals with schizophrenia.
abstract: Lower endogenous levels of the neuropeptide oxytocin may be an important biological predictor of social cognition impairments in schizophrenia (SZ). Prior studies have demonstrated that lower-level social cognitive processes (e.g., facial affect perception) are significantly associated with reduced plasma oxytocin levels in SZ; however, it is unclear whether higher-level social cognition, which requires inferential processes and knowledge not directly presented in the stimulus, is associated with endogenous oxytocin. The current study explored the association between endogenous oxytocin levels and lower- and higher-level social cognition in 40 individuals diagnosed with SZ and 22 demographically matched healthy controls (CN). All participants received the Social Cue Recognition Test (SCRT), which presents participants with videotaped interpersonal vignettes and subsequent true/false questions related to concrete or abstract aspects of social interactions in the vignettes. Results indicated that SZ had significantly higher plasma oxytocin concentrations than CN. SZ and CN did not differ on SCRT hits, but SZ had more false positives and lower sensitivity scores than CN. Higher plasma oxytocin levels were associated with better sensitivity scores for abstract items in CN and fewer false positives for concrete items in individuals with SZ. Findings indicate that endogenous oxytocin levels predict accurate encoding of lower-level socially relevant information in SZ.
authors: State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Psychology, USA. Electronic address: gstrauss@binghamton.edu.
authors: Gregory P
authors: GP
authors: Strauss
authors: University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, USA.
authors: William R
authors: WR
authors: Keller
authors: University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, USA.
authors: James I
authors: JI
authors: Koenig
authors: University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, USA.
authors: James M
authors: JM
authors: Gold
authors: State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Psychology, USA.
authors: Katherine H
authors: KH
authors: Frost
authors: University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, USA.
authors: Robert W
authors: RW
authors: Buchanan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000097:blood*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012938:Social Perception
chemical_list: D010121:Oxytocin
keywords: Interpersonal; Oxytocin; Psychosis; Social cognition