Fronto-temporal connectivity predicts cognitive empathy deficits and experiential negative symptoms in schizophrenia

Abstract

Impaired cognitive empathy is a core social cognitive deficit in schizophrenia associated with negative symptoms and social functioning. Cognitive empathy and negative symptoms have also been linked to medial prefrontal and temporal brain networks. While shared behavioral and neural underpinnings are suspected for cognitive empathy and negative symptoms, research is needed to test these hypotheses. In two studies, we evaluated whether resting-state functional connectivity between data-driven networks, or components (referred to as, inter-component connectivity), predicted cognitive empathy and experiential and expressive negative symptoms in schizophrenia subjects. Study 1: We examined associations between cognitive empathy and medial prefrontal and temporal inter-component connectivity at rest using a group-matched schizophrenia and control sample. We then assessed whether inter-component connectivity metrics associated with cognitive empathy were also related to negative symptoms. Study 2: We sought to replicate the connectivity-symptom associations observed in Study 1 using an independent schizophrenia sample. Study 1 results revealed that while the groups did not differ in average inter-component connectivity, a medial-fronto-temporal metric and an orbito-fronto-temporal metric were related to cognitive empathy. Moreover, the medial-fronto-temporal metric was associated with experiential negative symptoms in both schizophrenia samples. These findings support recent models that link social cognition and negative symptoms in schizophrenia. Hum Brain Mapp 38:1111-1124, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords: alogia; anhedonia; apathy; avolition; mentalizing; psychosis; resting-state fMRI.

Figure 1

Illustrations of the targeted fronto‐temporal neural components [Abram et al., 2015]. M, medial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex component; T, superior temporal gyrus, temporo‐parietal junction, and temporal poles component; and O, orbitofrontal cortex component. [Color figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]

Figure 2

A: Group by M‐T inter‐component connectivity interaction when predicting cognitive empathy in Study 1 (i.e., SCZ Sample 1 and CON Sample 1); data illustrates the pairwise correlations for schizophrenia and control groups, separately. B: M‐T inter‐component connectivity predicts experiential negative symptoms for the schizophrenia group in Study 1. C: M‐T inter‐component connectivity predicts experiential negative symptoms for the independent schizophrenia sample in Study 2 (i.e., SCZ Sample 2); data has been residualized according to the covariates in Table III. Abbreviations: CON, control subjects; SCZ, schizophrenia subjects; M, medial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex component; T, superior temporal gyrus, temporo‐parietal junction, and temporal poles component. [Color figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]