Citation

Jimenez AM, Clayson PE, Hasratian AS, Lee J, Reavis EA, Wynn JK, Green MF, Horan WP. Neuropsychologia 2023; 188: e108621.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108621

PMID

37321406

PMCID

PMC10527321

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Individuals with psychosis spectrum disorders (PSD) have difficulty developing social relationships. This difficulty may reflect reduced response to social feedback involving functional alterations in brain regions that support the social motivation system: ventral striatum, orbital frontal cortex, insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and amygdala. Whether these alterations span PSD is unknown.

METHODS: 71 individuals with PSD, 27 unaffected siblings, and 37 control participants completed a team-based fMRI task. After each trial, participants received performance feedback paired with the expressive face of a teammate or opponent. A 2 × 2 (win versus loss outcome x teammate versus opponent) repeated measures ANOVA by group was performed on activation in the five key regions of interest during receipt of feedback.

RESULTS: Across groups, three social motivation regions, ventral striatum, orbital frontal cortex, and amygdala, showed sensitivity to feedback (significant main effect of outcome), with greater activation during win versus loss trials, regardless of whether the feedback was from a teammate or opponent. In PSD, ventral striatum and orbital frontal cortex activation to win feedback was negatively correlated with social anhedonia scores.

CONCLUSIONS: Patterns of neural activation during social feedback were similar in PSD, their unaffected siblings, and healthy controls. Across the psychosis spectrum, activity in key social motivation regions during social feedback was associated with individual differences in social anhedonia.

Language: en

Keywords

Anhedonia; Brain Mapping; Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Motivation; Neuroimaging; Psychotic disorders; Psychotic Disorders; Reward; Schizophrenia; Sibling study; Social anhedonia; Social motivation; Social reward; Team task