Self-reflection and positive schizotypy in the adolescent brain

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Impaired self-reflection is linked to schizophrenia.
• Atypical brain activity during self-reflection is observed in psychosis-prone individuals.
• Self-reflection develops during adolescence, a period also associated with early psychosis expression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between atypical brain activation during a self-reflection task and early schizotypic expression in adolescents.
• To explore if neural correlates of self-reflection in adolescence predict positive schizotypy traits.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity in 42 neurotypical adolescents (ages 12-19) during a self-reflection task.
• Participants rated trait adjectives about themselves or a best friend.
• The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) assessed positive schizotypic expression.

Main Results:

• Positive schizotypy significantly correlated with atypical activation in specific brain regions, including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC).
• Correlations were also found with the dorsolateral PFC and lingual gyrus.
• These findings align with existing neuroimaging research on self-reflection and schizophrenia.

Conclusions:

• The study demonstrates a link between self-reflection processing and positive schizotypy at the trait level in adolescents.
• Atypical cerebral activation patterns during self-reflection in adolescence may be an early indicator of psychosis proneness.
• These findings highlight the importance of studying self-reflection during adolescence for understanding the developmental trajectory of psychosis.