Summary: A new study from Swinburne University researchers reveals people with social phobias may have difficulty in processing social information efficiently. Researchers report those who find social situations difficult show similar neural responses to those with schizophrenia and ASD.

Source: Swinburne University.

New Swinburne research shows that people who find social situations difficult tend to have similar brain responses to those with schizophrenia or autism.

The research, published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, found the areas of the brain that show increased response when exposed to unexpected speech sounds or ‘phonemes’ are associated with the processing of social information and linked with spectrum conditions such as autism or schizophrenia.

“This suggests that for people who find social situations difficult, their brain may be processing social information inefficiently,” says lead researcher and Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dr Talitha Ford.

“Autism and schizophrenia are multi-dimensional and spectrum conditions, which means they have varying degrees of many different symptoms, so much so, these symptoms present as non-clinical traits in the general population,” she says.

She explains that key features of both conditions are interpersonal and social difficulties, and different brain responses to changes in the environment.

“This study shows that brain responses to changes in the environment might be more closely related to the interpersonal and social difficulties experienced by those with schizophrenia and autism.”



Understanding brain responses

Dr Ford says studying the brain responses associated with behaviours related to clinical conditions, such as autism and schizophrenia, allows scientists to add to the growing understanding of the processes that drive these behaviours.

“Increasing the understanding of the relationship between clinical behaviours and brain response helps scientists and clinicians develop innovative and efficient early detection, prevention and treatment options for patients with these conditions,” she says.

The next step

Dr Ford hopes to further investigate the relationship between social cognition and brain response through the use of different neuroimaging techniques and measures of social skills.

“We also hope to extend this research to investigate these relationships in people with clinical conditions, such as autism and schizophrenia,” she says.

About this neuroscience research article

Source: Nick Adams – Swinburne University

Publisher: Organized by NeuroscienceNews.com.

Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is adapted from the Swinburne University news release.

Original Research: Full open access research for “Magnetoencephalography reveals an increased non-target P3a, but not target P3b, that is associated with high non-clinical psychosocial deficits” by Talitha C. Ford, Will Woods, and David P. Crewthera in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging. Published online November 21 2017 doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2017.11.012

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Swinburne University “Social Phobia Linked to Autism and Schizophrenia.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 11 December 2017.

<https://neurosciencenews.com/asd-schizophrenia-social-phobia-8154/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Swinburne University (2017, December 11). Social Phobia Linked to Autism and Schizophrenia. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved December 11, 2017 from https://neurosciencenews.com/asd-schizophrenia-social-phobia-8154/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Swinburne University “Social Phobia Linked to Autism and Schizophrenia.” https://neurosciencenews.com/asd-schizophrenia-social-phobia-8154/ (accessed December 11, 2017).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]

Abstract

Magnetoencephalography reveals an increased non-target P3a, but not target P3b, that is associated with high non-clinical psychosocial deficits

Auditory processing deficits are frequently identified in autism and schizophrenia, and the two disorders have been shown to share psychosocial difficulties. This study used magnetoencephalography to investigate auditory processing differences for those with a high degree of a non-clinical autistic and schizotypal trait phenotype, Social Disorganisation (SD). Participants were 18 low (9 female) and 19 high (9 female) SD scorers (18–40 years) who completed a three-stimulus auditory oddball paradigm of speech sounds (standard: 100 ms ‘o’, deviant: 150 ms ‘o’, novel: 150 ms ‘e’). Spatio-temporal cluster analysis revealed increased amplitude for the high SD group in a left (p = 0.006) and a right (p = 0.020) hemisphere cluster in response to the novel non-target. No cluster differences were found in response to the target deviant. These findings suggest that those with a high degree of the SD phenotype recruit more cortical resources when processing unattended, novel speech stimuli, which may lead to psychosocial deficits.

“Magnetoencephalography reveals an increased non-target P3a, but not target P3b, that is associated with high non-clinical psychosocial deficits” by Talitha C. Ford, Will Woods, and David P. Crewthera in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging. Published online November 21 2017 doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2017.11.012

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