Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T12:32:57.213Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Misattribution of facial expressions of emotion in adolescents at increased risk of psychosis: the role of inhibitory control

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 May 2010

S. van Rijn ,
A. Aleman ,
L. de Sonneville ,
M. Sprong ,
T. Ziermans ,
P. Schothorst ,
H. van Engeland  and
H. Swaab
S. van Rijn*
Affiliation:
Leiden University, Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies, Leiden, The Netherlands
A. Aleman
Affiliation:
University of Groningen, BCN NeuroImaging Center, Groningen, The Netherlands
L. de Sonneville
Affiliation:
Leiden University, Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies, Leiden, The Netherlands
M. Sprong
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Utrecht, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Utrecht, The Netherlands
T. Ziermans
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Utrecht, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Utrecht, The Netherlands
P. Schothorst
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Utrecht, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Utrecht, The Netherlands
H. van Engeland
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Utrecht, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Utrecht, The Netherlands
H. Swaab
Affiliation:
Leiden University, Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies, Leiden, The Netherlands
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr S. Van Rijn, Leiden University, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK Leiden, The Netherlands. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

By studying behavior, cognitive abilities and brain functioning in adolescents at high risk for psychosis, we can gain an insight into the vulnerability markers or protective factors in the development of psychotic symptoms. Although many high-risk studies have focused on impairments in neurocognitive functions, such as memory and attention, very few studies have investigated problems in processing social cues such as facial expressions as a possible vulnerability marker for psychosis.

Method

Thirty-six adolescents at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis and 21 non-clinical controls completed a face recognition test, a facial affect labeling test and an inhibitory control test. Schizotypal traits and schizophrenia symptoms were assessed using a schizotypy questionnaire and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).

Results

The UHR group showed impairments in labeling facial expressions of others, in addition to a spared ability to recognize facial identity. More specifically, the UHR group made more errors in labeling neutral expressions compared to the controls, and an analysis of error types indicated that neutral faces were misattributed as being angry. The degree of misattribution of neutral-as-angry faces correlated significantly with reduced inhibitory control.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that misattributing social cues might contribute to vulnerability for psychosis. This social cognitive deficit may be related to problems in inhibitory control, which potentially plays an important role in the selection of appropriate social meaning. These findings may have relevance for understanding the mechanisms underlying prodromal social dysfunction, which should be targeted in future remediation interventions.

Keywords

Emotionface recognitionhigh riskinhibitionpsychosissocial cognition
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , March 2011 , pp. 499 - 508
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Addington, J, Penn, D, Woods, SW, Addington, D, Perkins, DO (2008). Facial affect recognition in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis. British Journal of Psychiatry 192, 67–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Adolphs, R (2001). The neurobiology of social cognition. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 11, 231–239.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aleman, A, Kahn, RS (2005). Strange feelings: do amygdala abnormalities dysregulate the emotional brain in schizophrenia? Progress in Neurobiology 77, 283–298.Google ScholarPubMed
Anderson, V (2001). Assessing executive functions in children: biological, psychological, and developmental considerations. Pediatric Rehabilitation 4, 119–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benton, AL, Van Allen, MW (1973). Test of Face Recognition Manual. Neurosensory Center Publication: Department of Neurology, IA, USA.Google Scholar
Bolte, S, Poustka, F (2003). The recognition of facial affect in autistic and schizophrenic subjects and their first-degree relatives. Psychological Medicine 33, 907–915.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bozikas, VP, Kosmidis, MH, Anezoulaki, D, Giannakou, M, Karavatos, A (2004). Relationship of affect recognition with psychopathology and cognitive performance in schizophrenia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 10, 549–558.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brewer, WJ, Wood, SJ, Phillips, LJ, Francey, SM, Pantelis, C, Yung, AR, Cornblatt, B, McGorry, PD (2006). Generalized and specific cognitive performance in clinical high-risk cohorts: a review highlighting potential vulnerability markers for psychosis. Schizophrenia Bulletin 32, 538–555.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cannon, TD, Cadenhead, K, Cornblatt, B, Woods, SW, Addington, J, Walker, E, Seidman, LJ, Perkins, D, Tsuang, M, McGlashan, T, Heinssen, R (2008). Prediction of psychosis in youth at high clinical risk: a multisite longitudinal study in North America. Archives of General Psychiatry 65, 28–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cannon, TD, van Erp, TGM, Bearden, CE, Loewy, R, Thompson, P, Toga, AW, Huttunnen, MO, Keshavan, MS, Seidman, LJ, Tsuang, MT (2003). Early and late neurodevelopmental influences in the prodrome to schizophrenia: contributions of genes, environment, and their interactions. Schizophrenia Bulletin 29, 653–669.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chung, YS, Kang, DH, Shin, NY, Yoo, SY, Kwon, JS (2008). Deficit of theory of mind in individuals at ultra-high-risk for schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research 99, 111–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, AS, Nienow, TM, Dinzeo, TJ, Docherty, NM (2008). Attribution biases in schizophrenia: relationship to clinical and functional impairments. Psychopathology 42, 40–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Sonneville, LMJ (1999). Amsterdam Neuropsychological Tasks: a computer-aided assessment program. In Cognitive Ergonomics, Clinical Assessment and Computer-Assisted Learning: Computers in Psychology (ed. Den Brinker, B. P. L. M., Beek, P. J., Brand, A. N., Maarse, S. J. and Mulder, L. J. M.), pp. 187–203. Swets & Zeitlinger: Lisse, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
De Sonneville, LMJ (2005). Amsterdam Neuropsychological Tasks: scientific and clinical applications. Tijdschrift voor Neuropsychologie 1, 27–41.Google Scholar
Done, DJ, Crow, TJ, Johnstone, EC, Sacker, A (1994). Childhood antecedents of schizophrenia and affective illness: social adjustment at ages 7 and 11. British Medical Journal 309, 699–703.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eack, SM, Mermon, DE, Montrose, DM, Miewald, J, Gur, RE, Gur, RC, Sweeney, JA, Keshavan, MS (2010). Social cognition deficits among individuals at familial high risk for schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin. Published online: 25 March 2010. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbp026.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fenigstein, A (1984). Self-consciousness and the overperception of self as a target. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 47, 860–870.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frigerio, E, Burt, DM, Montagne, B, Murray, LK, Perrett, DI (2002). Facial affect perception in alcoholics. Psychiatry Research 113, 161–171.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hooker, C, Park, S (2002). Emotion processing and its relationship to social functioning in schizophrenia patients. Psychiatry Research 112, 41–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ikebuchi, E (2007). Social skills and social and nonsocial cognitive functioning in schizophrenia. Journal of Mental Health 16, 581–594.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kay, SR, Fiszbein, A, Opler, LA (1987). The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) for schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin 13, 261–276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klosterkotter, J, Ruhrmann, S, Schultze-Lutter, F (2005). The European Prediction of Psychosis Study (EPOS): integrating early recognition and intervention in Europe. World Psychiatry 4, 161–167.Google ScholarPubMed
Kohler, CG, Turner, TH, Bilker, WB, Brensinger, CM, Siegel, SJ, Kanes, SJ, Gur, RE, Gur, RC (2003). Facial emotion recognition in schizophrenia: intensity effects and error pattern. American Journal of Psychiatry 160, 1768–1774.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mandal, MK, Pandey, R, Prasad, AB (1998). Facial expressions of emotions and schizophrenia: a review. Schizophrenia Bulletin 24, 399–412.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marjoram, D, Miller, P, McIntosh, AM, Cunningham Owens, DG, Johnstone, EC, Lawrie, S (2006). A neuropsychological investigation into ‘Theory of Mind’ and enhanced risk of schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research 144, 29–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGlashan, TH, Miller, TJ, Woods, SW, Rosen, JL, Hoffman, RE, Davidson, L (2001). Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS). Prime Research Clinic: Yale School of Medicine, New Haven.Google Scholar
Miller, TJ, McGlashan, TH, Rosen, JL, Cadenhead, K, Ventura, J, McFarlane, W, Perkins, DO, Pearlson, GD, Woods, SW (2003). Prodromal assessment with the structured interview for prodromal syndromes and the scale of prodromal symptoms: predictive validity, interrater reliability, and training to reliability. Schizophrenia Bulletin 29, 703–715.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olsen, KA, Rosenbaum, B (2006). Prospective investigations of the prodromal state of schizophrenia: assessment instruments. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 113, 273–282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phillips, ML, Drevets, WC, Rauch, SL, Lane, R (2003). Neurobiology of emotion perception II: Implications for major psychiatric disorders. Biological Psychiatry 54, 515–528.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pinkham, AE, Penn, DL (2006). Neurocognitive and social cognitive predictors of interpersonal skill in schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research 143, 167–178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pinkham, AE, Penn, DL, Perkins, DO, Graham, KA, Siegel, M (2007). Emotion perception and social skill over the course of psychosis: a comparison of individuals ‘at-risk’ for psychosis and individuals with early and chronic schizophrenia spectrum illness. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry 12, 198–212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Polderman, TJC, Posthuma, D, De Sonneville, LMJ, Stins, JF, Verhulst, FC, Boomsma, DI (2007). Genetic analyses of the stability of executive functioning during childhood. Biological Psychology 76, 11–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Premkumar, P, Cooke, MA, Fannon, D, Peters, E, Michel, TM, Aasen, I, Murray, RM, Kuipers, E, Kumari, V (2008). Misattribution bias of threat-related facial expressions is related to a longer duration of illness and poor executive function in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. European Psychiatry 23, 14–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raine, A (1991). The SPQ: a scale for the assessment of schizotypal personality based on DSM-III-R criteria. Schizophrenia Bulletin 17, 555–564.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rommelse, NNJ, Altink, ME, Oosterlaan, J, Buschgens, CJM, Buitelaar, J, Sergeant, JA (2008). Support for an independent familial segregation of executive and intelligence endophenotypes in ADHD families. Psychological Medicine 38, 1595–1606.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schultze-Lutter, F, Klosterkotter, J (2002). Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms – Prediction List, BSABS-P. University of Cologne: Cologne.Google Scholar
Seiferth, NY, Pauly, K, Habel, U, Kellermann, T, Shah, NJ, Ruhrmann, S, Klosterkotter, J, Schneider, F, Kircher, T (2008). Increased neural response related to neutral faces in individuals at risk for psychosis. NeuroImage 40, 289–297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smári, J, Stefánsson, S, Thorgilsson, H (1994). Paranoia, self-consciousness, and social cognition in schizophrenics. Cognitive Therapy and Research 18, 387–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sprong, M, Becker, HE, Schothorst, PF, Swaab, H, Ziermans, TB, Dingemans, PM, Linszen, D, van Engeland, H (2008). Pathways to psychosis: a comparison of the pervasive developmental disorder subtype Multiple Complex Developmental Disorder and the ‘At Risk Mental State’. Schizophrenia Research 99, 38–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tarbox, SI, Pogue-Geile, MF (2008). Development of social functioning in preschizophrenia children and adolescents: a systematic review. Psychological Bulletin 134, 561–583.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Toomey, R, Seidman, LJ, Lyons, MJ, Faraone, SV, Tsuang, MT (1999). Poor perception of nonverbal social-emotional cues in relatives of schizophrenic patients. Schizophrenia Research 40, 121–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trémeau, F (2006). A review of emotion deficits in schizophrenia. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience 8, 59–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Rijn, S, Swaab, H, Aleman, A, Kahn, RS (2006). X Chromosomal effects on social cognitive processing and emotion regulation: a study with Klinefelter men (47,XXY). Schizophrenia Research 84, 194–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van 't Wout, M, Aleman, A, Kessels, RP, Laroi, F, Kahn, RS (2004). Emotional processing in a non-clinical psychosis-prone sample. Schizophrenia Research 68, 271–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van 't Wout, M, Aleman, A, Kessels, RPC, Cahn, W, de Haan, EHF, Kahn, RS (2007). Exploring the nature of facial affect processing deficits in schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research 150, 227–235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van't Wout, M, Van Dijke, A, Aleman, A, Kessels, RPC, Pijpers, W, Kahn, RS (2007). Fearful faces in schizophrenia: the relationship between patient characteristics and facial affect recognition. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 195, 758–764.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vollema, MG, Hoijtink, H (2000). The multidimensionality of self-report schizotypy in a psychiatric population: an analysis using multidimensional Rasch models. Schizophrenia Bulletin 26, 565–575.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vollema, MG, Sitskoorn, MM, Appels, MCM, Kahn, RS (2002). Does the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire reflect the biological-genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia? Schizophrenia Research 54, 39–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weinberger, DR (1987). Implications of normal brain development for the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry 44, 660–669.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed