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Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior
Published on: April 16, 2014
Auditory top-down control and affective theory of mind in schizophrenia with and without hallucinations
Christian Rominger1, Angelika Bleier1, Werner Fitz2
1Department of Psychology, Biological Psychology Unit, University of Graz, Austria.
Abstract:
Social cognitive impairments may represent a core feature of schizophrenia and above all are a strong predictor of positive psychotic symptoms. Previous studies could show that reduced inhibitory top-down control contributes to deficits in theory of mind abilities and is involved in the genesis of hallucinations. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between auditory inhibition, affective theory of mind and the experience of hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia. In the present study, 20 in-patients with schizophrenia and 20 healthy controls completed a social cognition task (the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test) and an inhibitory top-down Dichotic Listening Test. Schizophrenia patients with greater severity of hallucinations showed impaired affective theory of mind as well as impaired inhibitory top-down control. More dysfunctional top-down inhibition was associated with poorer affective theory of mind performance, and seemed to mediate the association between impairment to affective theory of mind and severity of hallucinations. The findings support the idea of impaired theory of mind as a trait marker of schizophrenia. In addition, dysfunctional top-down inhibition may give rise to hallucinations and may further impair affective theory of mind skills in schizophrenia.
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