title: Inflammation impairs social cognitive processing: A randomized controlled trial of endotoxin.
abstract: Neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., autism, schizophrenia) are partially characterized by social cognitive deficits, including impairments in the ability to perceive others' emotional states, which is an aspect of social cognition known as theory of mind (ToM). There is also evidence that inflammation may be implicated in the etiology of these disorders, but experimental data linking inflammation to deficits in social cognition is sparse. Thus, we examined whether exposure to an experimental inflammatory challenge led to changes in ToM. One hundred and fifteen (n=115) healthy participants were randomly assigned to receive either endotoxin, which is an inflammatory challenge, or placebo. Participants completed a social cognition task, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) test, at baseline and at the peak of the inflammatory response for the endotoxin group. The RME test, a validated measure of ToM, evaluates how accurately participants can identify the emotional state of another person by looking only at their eyes. We found that endotoxin (vs. placebo) led to decreases in performance on the RME test from baseline to the peak of inflammatory response, indicating that acute inflammation can lead to decreases in the ability to accurately and reliably comprehend emotional information from others. Given that deficits in ToM are implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders, including those which may have an inflammatory basis, these results may have implications for understanding the links between inflammation, social cognition, and neuropsychiatric disorders.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01671150.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, United States.
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moieni
authors.affiliation: Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7076, United States.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Irwin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, United States.
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jevtic
authors.affiliation: Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7076, United States.
authors.forename: Elizabeth C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Breen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, United States. Electronic address: neisenbe@ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Naomi I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Eisenberger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012938:Social Perception; D056345:Theory of Mind / Q000187:drug effects*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D004731:Endotoxins; C044101:endotoxin, Escherichia coli
keywords: Cytokines; Endotoxin; Inflammation; Mind in the Eyes; Social cognition; Theory of mind