title: Phenotypic continuum between autism and schizophrenia: Evidence from the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC).
abstract: Schizophrenic (SCZ) and autism (ASD) spectrum disorders share several features including social cognition impairments. In SCZ, the link between symptomatic dimensions and social cognition deficits remains unclear. The Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC) test, available in several languages including English, investigates mental state attribution capabilities in complex interpersonal situations. After its translation into French, we used MASC to direct compare social cognition in 36 young participants with SCZ to 19 with ASD and 20 healthy controls (HC) matched for gender, age (18-25y.o.) and level of education. The MASC discriminated each group from the others, patients with SCZ exhibiting difficulties compared to ASD (MASC total score 28.1 (4) and 24.2 (6.6), respectively; p<.001). In the whole sample, MASC scores were inversely correlated with autistic traits, evaluated by autism quotient, and with disorganization symptoms. Finally, in SCZ, over-mentalizing difficulties were correlated with age at disease onset. Our results demonstrate the validity of the French version of the MASC and bring direct evidence supporting the hypothesis of a phenotypic continuum between autism and schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Laboratoire Physiopathologie des maladies Psychiatriques, Centre de psychiatrie et neurosciences, U894 Paris, France; Université Paris-Descartes, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Faculté de Médecine Paris-Descartes, Paris, France; Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Paris, France; Institut de psychiatrie (GDR 3557), France.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Laboratoire Physiopathologie des maladies Psychiatriques, Centre de psychiatrie et neurosciences, U894 Paris, France; Université Paris-Descartes, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Faculté de Médecine Paris-Descartes, Paris, France; Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Paris, France; Institut de psychiatrie (GDR 3557), France.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alexandre
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Laboratoire Physiopathologie des maladies Psychiatriques, Centre de psychiatrie et neurosciences, U894 Paris, France; Université Paris-Descartes, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Faculté de Médecine Paris-Descartes, Paris, France; Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Paris, France; Institut de psychiatrie (GDR 3557), France.
authors.forename: Célia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mam-Lam-Fook
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Laboratoire Physiopathologie des maladies Psychiatriques, Centre de psychiatrie et neurosciences, U894 Paris, France; Université Paris-Descartes, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Faculté de Médecine Paris-Descartes, Paris, France; Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Paris, France; Institut de psychiatrie (GDR 3557), France.
authors.forename: Narjes
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bendjemaa
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Laboratoire Physiopathologie des maladies Psychiatriques, Centre de psychiatrie et neurosciences, U894 Paris, France; Université Paris-Descartes, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Faculté de Médecine Paris-Descartes, Paris, France; Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Paris, France; Institut de psychiatrie (GDR 3557), France.
authors.forename: Raphaël
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gaillard
authors.affiliation: Université de Montréal, CHU Ste-Justine, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Garel
authors.affiliation: Berlin School of Mind and Brain and Institute of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dziobek
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Laboratoire Physiopathologie des maladies Psychiatriques, Centre de psychiatrie et neurosciences, U894 Paris, France; Université Paris-Descartes, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Faculté de Médecine Paris-Descartes, Paris, France; Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Paris, France; Institut de psychiatrie (GDR 3557), France.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Amado
authors.affiliation: INSERM, Laboratoire Physiopathologie des maladies Psychiatriques, Centre de psychiatrie et neurosciences, U894 Paris, France; Université Paris-Descartes, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Faculté de Médecine Paris-Descartes, Paris, France; Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Paris, France; Institut de psychiatrie (GDR 3557), France. Electronic address: marie-odile.krebs@inserm.fr.
authors.forename: Marie-Odile
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Krebs
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012938:Social Perception; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Asperger; Autism spectrum disorder; Pervasive developmental disorder; Psychopathology; Psychosis; Young adult