Neural simulation mechanisms and social-emotional function in schizophrenia

Abstract

Impairment in simulation, i.e., the generation of internal representations of experiences, may contribute to social dysfunction in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SZ). Using a novel fMRI task, we identified neural representations generated during simulation of sensorimotor experiences and evaluated their associations with socioemotional function in 19 individuals with SZ and 24 psychiatrically-healthy controls (HC). Participants watched videos depicting a painful sensorimotor experience in the hand or foot of another person and were then asked to imagine how unpleasant it would be to undergo that experience themselves, eliciting simulation. A localizer task identified regions-of-interest (ROIs) within each participant's sensorimotor cortices (SC) recruited by firsthand sensory experiences in hands and feet. Simulation engaged these ROIs in HC and SZ. Simulation-related activation in ROIs did not differ between groups but was associated with participants' social function. Findings indicate that simulation elicits specific neural representations within the SC and the strength of these representations might be linked to social function.

Keywords: Empathy; Mentalizing; Mirror neurons; Social cognition; fMRI.