Explore the vast range of titles available.

This study applies eye-tracking paradigms to cluster data based on participants’ gaze patterns, while performing the Korean version of the Reading the Mind in Eyes Test, and to investigate whether there were differences in the neurocognitive and other Theory of Mind (ToM) tests among the classified clusters. A total of 89 (50 males) non-clinical youths were recruited. The k-means algorithm was adopted, and the optimised number of clusters was determined using the elbow, silhouette and NbClust methods. Furthermore, multivariate analysis was employed to determine whether there were differences among the clusters in the neurocognitive and other ToM tests. Four clusters were proposed based on the index used to estimate the optimised cluster. The long word fixation time cluster had significantly more total errors and fewer categories completed in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, lower backward Digit Span score, and lower sequencing scores in the Theory of Mind Picture Stories Task than in the other clusters. The main findings suggested that even when performing a perceptual-level ToM task that requires the ability to understand mental states, at least in some individuals, gaze patterns are related to neurocognitive strategies, especially executive function, rather than to the specific social cognitive function itself.

Social cognition, which ranges from recognizing social cues to intricate inferential reasoning, is influenced by environmental factors and epigenetic mechanisms. Notably, methylation variations in stress-related genes like brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) are linked to distinct social cognitive functions and exhibit sex-specific differences. This study investigates how these methylation differences affect social cognition across sexes, focusing on both perceptual and inferential cognitive levels. Social cognitive abilities were assessed using the Korean version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (K-RMET) and Brune’s story-based Theory of Mind tasks (ToM-PST). DNA methylation levels in BDNF and OXTR were analyzed for correlations with performance on these cognitive tasks in a cohort of male and female participants. A moderation model was applied to determine if sex moderates the relationship between social cognition and DNA methylation. No significant overall correlation was found between social cognition and DNA methylation across participants. However, sex-specific correlations were identified, including a negative impact of BDNF methylation on K-RMET scores in males, and a similar effect of OXTR methylation on ToM-PST scores in females. The findings underscore the complex relationship between epigenetic modifications and social cognition, revealing sex-specific effects and highlighting the importance of considering sex in epigenetic studies of social cognition. This research contributes to understanding how epigenetic factors, influenced by sex, shape social cognitive processes and supports the need for sex-specific therapeutic approaches.

Feelings of shame and guilt have rarely been investigated in people at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis. We aimed to outline differences in shame and guilt in relation to empathy and theory of mind (ToM) in young people, particularly those at UHR for psychosis. First, 166 young healthy controls were assessed for their proneness to shame and guilt using the Test of Self-Conscious Affect, empathy and its four subdomains (perspective taking, fantasy, empathic concern, and personal distress) using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), ToM using the ToM picture stories task, and neurocognitive performance using the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM). Next, we evaluated shame and guilt in 24 UHR individuals comparing them to 24 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Finally, we explored relationships for shame and guilt in relation to empathy and ToM in the UHR individuals. In the healthy youth, a regression analysis showed fantasy and personal distress in IRI to be significant determinants of shame, while perspective taking and empathic concern in IRI, ToM, and SPM were independent predictors of guilt. Meanwhile, compared to the healthy controls, individuals with UHR exhibited higher levels of shame, which was associated with increased personal distress. Our findings showed that four subdomains of empathy, ToM, and neurocognition were differentially associated with shame and guilt in healthy young people. Given the correlation between excessive feelings of shame and high levels of the personal distress dimension of empathy in UHR for psychosis, redressing the tendency to focus on self-oriented negative emotions upon witnessing distress of others could possibly reduce self-blame or self-stigma of help-seeking individuals. •Shame and guilt have different associations with social cognitive abilities in healthy young individuals.•Individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis showed high levels of shame.•In the UHR group, higher shame was associated with higher levels of personal distress dimension of empathy.

Background Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) has received attention as a useful marker of stress, but evidence on associations between psychological factors and cortisol concentration is inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to investigate the sex differences in the relationship between cortisol concentration and psychological factors in healthy young adults. Methods A total of 205 (103 females, 102 males) healthy young adults participated. HCC and various stress-related psychological measures were compared between sexes. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess associations between HCC and stress-related psychological measures for all participants and for each sex. Results The difference in HCC according to sex was not significant. The reported number of stressful life events in the past year, stress perception, depressive and anxiety-related symptoms, and emotion dysregulation were not different between sexes, either. The association between HCC and emotion dysregulation was significant in females but not males. Conclusion We observed a sex-specific association between HCC and psychological factors. Our findings may imply that HCC could be a useful biomarker of stress and stress-related emotion dysregulation in healthy young women. Highlights Associations between hair cortisol level and psychological factors have been inconclusive. In healthy young adults, the hair cortisol concentration was not significantly different between sexes. The association between emotion dysregulation and hair cortisol was only found in women, but not in men. The role of sex should be considered in utilizing hair cortisol as a biomarker for psychological stress response.

The interplay between schizophrenia liability and environmental influences has been considered to be responsible for the development of schizophrenia. Recent neuroimaging studies have linked aberrant functional connectivity (FC) between the default-mode network (DMN) and the frontoparietal network (FPN) in the resting-state to the underlying neural mechanism of schizophrenia. By using schizotypy as the proxy for genetic-based liability to schizophrenia and methylation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) to represent environmental exposure, this study investigated the impact of the interaction between vulnerability and the environment on the neurobiological substrates of schizophrenia. Participants in this study included 101 healthy adults (HC) and 46 individuals with ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR). All participants were tested at resting-state by functional magnetic resonance imaging, and group-independent component analysis was used to identify the DMN and the FPN. The Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS) was used to evaluate the schizotypy level. The methylation status of BDNF was measured by pyrosequencing. For moderation analysis, the final sample consisted of 83 HC and 32 UHR individuals. UHR individuals showed reduced DMN-FPN network FC compared to healthy controls. PAS scores significantly moderated the relationship between the percentage of BDNF methylation and DMN-FPN network FC. The strength of the positive relationship between BDNF methylation and the network FC was reduced when the schizotypy level increased. These findings support the moderating role of schizotypy on the neurobiological mechanism of schizophrenia in conjunction with epigenetic changes.

Despite the provision of a mumps vaccination program in Canada for over three decades, mumps has not reached elimination. Instead, a re-emergence has been observed in vaccinated populations, particularly in young adults. These outbreaks have been almost exclusively due to genotype G infections, a trend that has been seen in other countries with high mumps vaccination rates. To characterize mumps outbreaks in Canada, genomes from samples from Manitoba (n = 209), Newfoundland (n = 25), and Nova Scotia (n = 48) were sequenced and analysed by Bayesian inference. Whole genome sequencing was shown to be highly discriminatory for outbreak investigations compared to traditional Sanger sequencing. The results showed that mumps virus genotype G most likely circulated endemically in Canada and between Canada and the US. Overall, this Canadian outbreak data from different provinces and ancestral strains demonstrates the benefits of molecular genomic data to better characterize mumps outbreaks, but also suggests genomics could further our understanding of the reasons for potential immune escape of mumps genotype G and evolution in highly vaccinated populations. With a possible endemic circulation of mumps genotype G and the remaining risk of new imported cases, increased surveillance and alternative vaccination strategies may be required for Canada to reach the current target for mumps or a future elimination status.

BackgroundSchizophrenia patients and individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis(UHR) have shown impaired facial emotion recognition(FER). Previous studies have reported lower accuracy and negative bias of FER in schizophrenia and UHR. These impairments have been studied with various factors such as schizotypy and paranoid level, but the results were inconsistent. This study aimed to identify the impairments of FER in UHR individuals and further to examine how these impairments relate to schizotypy and paranoid level.Methodsorty-three UHR individuals and 57 normal controls (NC) were requested to perform the facial emotion recognition(FER) task that consist of 60 facial photographs selected from standardized photographs of Ekman and Friesen series. For exploratory correlation analysis, schizotypy (Revised physical anhedonia scale, Magical ideation scale) and paranoid level (Paranoia scale, Persecution/suspicious item of Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) were also examined in UHR individuals.ResultsThe UHR individuals showed lower accuracy rate for total FER task (70.6% vs. 75.6%, p=0.010) and more “fear” responses for neutral faces (14.5% vs. 6.0%, p=0.003) than NC. In exploratory correlation analysis for UHR individuals, the total accuracy rate of FER task showed significant correlation with both scales for schizotypy, but not with both scales for paranoid level. Among threat-related emotion response rates for neutral face, only “Disgust” response rate for neutral face was correlated with all scales for paranoid level, but not with scales for schizotypys in UHR individuals.DiscussionIn this study, we could identify inaccuracy and negative bias of FER in UHR individuals, Furthermore, we found that inaccuracy and negative bias were associated with schizotypy and paranoid level, respectively. These findings imply that inaccuracy and negative bias of FER in UHR individuals are of different nature. Future studies on the clinical implications of these findings would be needed.

BackgroundSelf-conscious emotions, such as shame and guilt, play a key role in one’s thoughts and behaviors. Our study investigated how shame and guilt were different concerning multiple aspects of social cognitive abilities, and we evaluated the self-conscious emotions in individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis.MethodsFirstly, one hundred and sixty-six healthy youths were assessed for shame and guilt using the test of self-conscious affect, for empathy using interpersonal reactivity index (IRI), and for Theory of Mind (ToM) ability using the ToM picture stories task. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to predict shame and guilt from the social cognitive variables. Secondly, twenty-four UHR and 24 age- and sex-matched normal controls were compared for shame, guilt, empathy, and ToM ability.ResultsResults in healthy youths, regression analysis with shame revealed that fantasy (t=3.0, p=0.003, β=0.22) and personal distress (t=5.8, p<0.001, β=0.42) of IRI and affective ToM (t=2.0, p=0.044, β=0.14) were significant determinants. In the regression model of guilt, there were independent predictors including perspective taking (t=3.5, p=0.001, β=0.28) and empathic concern (t=2.1, p=0.040, β=0.17) of IRI and cognitive ToM (t=2.1, p=0.037, β=0.15). In UHR individuals, higher levels of shame (t=-2.4, p=0.021), fantasy (t=-2.3, p=0.028), and personal distress (t=-3.4, p=0.001) and lower levels of perspective taking (t=4.0, p<0.001) and cognitive ToM (t=4.2, p<0.001) were observed. Moreover, high levels of shame was correlated with increased personal distress (r=0.78, p<0.001) in UHR for psychosis.DiscussionThese findings suggest that empathy and ToM ability predict persons’ shame- or guilt-proneness in healthy youths, and heightened personal distress in UHR individuals may possibly influence the level of shame which could lead to socially maladjustment behaviors. Dealing with social cognitive function would be helpful for reparation to UHR individuals.

BackgroundHostile attribution bias has been reported to be common from nonclinical population to serious mental illness such as schizophrenia and is known to be closely related to social cognition. The aims of this study was to investigate whether theory of mind (ToM) skills mediate the relationship between cognitive ability and personality traits and attribution bias by using the Korean version of Reading the Minds in the eyes test (K-RMET).MethodsOne hundred ninety-six (101 females) nonclinical youths were recruited. To assess general cognitive ability and ToM skills, participants were asked to complete the Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) and the K-RMET. For personality traits, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (psychoticism) and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (perspective taking) were administered. To evaluate the hostile attribution bias, the Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire was also administered. Path analysis and the bias‐corrected percentile bootstrap method were performed to estimate the parameters of mediating effects.ResultsBased on Akaike Information Criterion(AIC) the best model characterized 1) two direct pathways from psychoticism and the K-RMET to hostility attribution bias and 2) four indirect pathways, wherein SPM, perspective taking and psychoticism influence hostile attribution bias through the K-RMET. The K-RMET fully mediated the association between SPM (p=.028), perspective taking (p=.027), psychoticism (p=.041) and hostile attribution bias.DiscussionThe main findings suggested that ToM skill such as the RMET plays an important role in explaining the relationship between cognitive ability and personality traits and hostile attribution bias. The development of remediation strategy of theory of mind skills may be needed to balance the enhanced hostility bias which is underlying the paranoia.

Abstract Background Self-referential processing and perspective taking are core defected facets of self which may be underlying the psychotic symptoms and impaired social cognition in schizophrenia. To investigate this issue, we explored the neural correlates of self-referential processing regardless of the perspective taken, and the other’s perspective taking in any reference target. Methods Twenty-two ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis individuals and 28 healthy controls were asked to judge the extent of the relevance of personality trait adjectives for themselves or close relatives and were also requested to put themselves in close other’s position and approximate this person’s judgements on the relevance of trait adjectives for self or other during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Results In the self-referential processing (self-as-target versus other-as-target), UHR individuals showed significantly reduced neural activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) with medial orbitofrontal cortex. In the taking of the third-person perspective (other’s perspective versus one’s own perspective), UHR individuals showed increased activity in the visual association areas of middle occipital gyrus. Discussion These findings suggest that putative ‘prodromal’, UHR individuals already show the self-referential impairment for endorsing self-relevance to surrounding social information, which may be underpinned by reduced VMPFC activity while UHR individuals still can be capable of recruiting additional visual associative cortex for taking the close other’s position.