title: Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders Show Reduced Specificity and Less Positive Events in Mental Time Travel.
abstract: Mental time travel refers to the ability to recall past events and to imagine possible future events. Schizophrenia (SCZ) patients have problems in remembering specific personal experiences in the past and imagining what will happen in the future. This study aimed to examine episodic past and future thinking in SCZ spectrum disorders including SCZ patients and individuals with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) proneness who are at risk for developing SCZ. Thirty-two SCZ patients, 30 SPD proneness individuals, and 33 healthy controls participated in the study. The Sentence Completion for Events from the Past Test (SCEPT) and the Sentence Completion for Events in the Future Test were used to measure past and future thinking abilities. Results showed that SCZ patients showed significantly reduced specificity in recalling past and imagining future events, they generated less proportion of specific and extended events compared to healthy controls. SPD proneness individuals only generated less extended events compared to healthy controls. The reduced specificity was mainly manifested in imagining future events. Both SCZ patients and SPD proneness individuals generated less positive events than controls. These results suggest that mental time travel impairments in SCZ spectrum disorders and have implications for understanding their cognitive and emotional deficits.
authors: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; College of Humanities, University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, AmherstMA, USA.
authors: Xing-Jie
authors: XJ
authors: Chen
authors: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China; College of Humanities, University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China.
authors: Lu-Lu
authors: LL
authors: Liu
authors: Information Center, National Institute of Education Sciences Beijing, China.
authors: Ji-Fang
authors: JF
authors: Cui
authors: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, China.
authors: Ya
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: School of Psychology, Southwest University Chongqing, China.
authors: An-Tao
authors: AT
authors: Chen
authors: School of Psychology, Southwest University Chongqing, China.
authors: Feng-Hua
authors: FH
authors: Li
authors: School of Psychology, Southwest University Chongqing, China.
authors: Wei-Hong
authors: WH
authors: Wang
authors: Beibei Mental Health Center Chongqing, China.
authors: Han-Feng
authors: HF
authors: Zheng
authors: Beijing Huilongguan Hospital Beijing, China.
authors: Ming-Yuan
authors: MY
authors: Gan
authors: Beijing Huilongguan Hospital Beijing, China.
authors: Chun-Qiu
authors: CQ
authors: Li
authors: Menzies Health Institute Queensland and School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast QLD, Australia.
authors: David H K
authors: DH
authors: Shum
authors: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing, China.
authors: Raymond C K
authors: RC
authors: Chan
keywords: episodic future thinking; mental time travel; past; schizophrenia; schizophrenia spectrum