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Patel GH, Gruskin DC, Arkin SC, Jamerson EC, Ruiz-Betancourt DR, Klim CC, Sanchez-Peña JP, Bartel LP, Lee JK, Grinband J, Martinez A, Berman RA, Ochsner KN, Leopold DA, Javitt DC. The Road Not Taken: Disconnection of a Human-Unique Cortical Pathway Underlying Naturalistic Social Perception in Schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci 2023; 3:398-408. [PMID: 37519457 PMCID: PMC10382708 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2022.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Revised: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Efficient processing of complex and dynamic social scenes relies on intact connectivity of many underlying cortical areas and networks, but how connectivity anomalies affect the neural substrates of social perception remains unknown. Here we measured these relationships using functionally based localization of social perception areas, resting-state functional connectivity, and movie-watching data. Methods In 42 participants with schizophrenia (SzPs) and 41 healthy control subjects, we measured the functional connectivity of areas localized by face-emotion processing, theory-of-mind (ToM), and attention tasks. We quantified the weighted shortest path length between visual and medial prefrontal ToM areas in both populations to assess the impact of these changes in functional connectivity on network structure. We then correlated connectivity along the shortest path in each group with movie-evoked activity in a key node of the ToM network (posterior temporoparietal junction [TPJp]). Results SzPs had pronounced decreases in connectivity in TPJ/posterior superior temporal sulcus (TPJ-pSTS) areas involved in face-emotion processing (t81 = 4.4, p = .00002). In healthy control subjects, the shortest path connecting visual and medial prefrontal ToM areas passed through TPJ-pSTS, whereas in SzPs, the shortest path passed through the prefrontal cortex. While movie-evoked TPJp activity correlated with connectivity along the TPJ-pSTS pathway in both groups (r = 0.43, p = .002), it additionally correlated with connectivity along the prefrontal cortex pathway only in SzPs (rSzP = 0.56, p = .003). Conclusions These results suggest that connectivity along the human-unique TPJ-pSTS pathway affects both the network architecture and functioning of areas involved in processing complex dynamic social scenes. These results demonstrate how focal connectivity anomalies can have widespread impacts across the cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaurav H. Patel
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York
- Experimental Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
| | - David C. Gruskin
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Sophie C. Arkin
- University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
| | | | | | | | - Juan P. Sanchez-Peña
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York
- Experimental Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
| | - Laura P. Bartel
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York
- Experimental Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
| | - Jessica K. Lee
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York
- Experimental Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
| | - Jack Grinband
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York
- Experimental Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
| | - Antígona Martinez
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York
- Schizophrenia Research Division, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York
| | - Rebecca A. Berman
- Section on Cognitive Neurophysiology and Imaging, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Kevin N. Ochsner
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - David A. Leopold
- Section on Cognitive Neurophysiology and Imaging, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Daniel C. Javitt
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York
- Experimental Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
- Schizophrenia Research Division, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York
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Park B, Vepachedu S, Keshava P, Minns S. Culture, theory-of-mind, and morality: How independent and interdependent minds make moral judgments. Biol Psychol 2022; 174:108423. [PMID: 36075489 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Revised: 08/30/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Although the investigation of the neural mechanisms of morality has increased in recent years, the neural underpinnings of cultural variations in judgments of morality is understudied. In this paper, we propose that the well-established cultural differences in two cognitive processes, consideration of mental state and causal attribution, would lead to differences in moral judgment. Specifically, North Americans rely heavily on the mental state of a protagonist and dispositional attributions, whereas East Asians focus more on situational attributions and place less emphasis on the mental state of a protagonist. These differences would be accounted for by activity in brain regions implicated in thinking about others' minds, or theory-of-mind (ToM), which would underlie the cultural shaping of moral judgment. This proposed cultural neuroscience approach may broaden the scope of morality research, better predict moral behavior, and reduce disparities in diverse groups' moral judgment.
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Paul S, Arora A, Midha R, Vu D, Roy PK, Belmonte MK. Autistic traits and individual brain differences: functional network efficiency reflects attentional and social impairments, structural nodal efficiencies index systemising and theory-of-mind skills. Mol Autism 2021; 12:3. [PMID: 33478557 PMCID: PMC7818759 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-020-00377-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2019] [Accepted: 09/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Autism is characterised not only by impaired social cognitive 'empathising' but also by superior rule-based 'systemising'. These cognitive domains intertwine within the categorical diagnosis of autism, yet behavioural genetics suggest largely independent heritability, and separable brain mechanisms. We sought to determine whether quantitative behavioural measures of autistic traits are dimensionally associated with structural and functional brain network integrity, and whether brain bases of autistic traits vary independently across individuals. METHODS Thirty right-handed neurotypical adults (12 females) were administered psychometric (Social Responsiveness Scale, Autism Spectrum Quotient and Systemising Quotient) and behavioural (Attention Network Test and theory-of-mind reaction time) measures of autistic traits, and structurally (diffusion tensor imaging) and functionally (500 s of 2 Hz eyes-closed resting fMRI) derived graph-theoretic measures of efficiency of information integration were computed throughout the brain and within subregions. RESULTS Social impairment was positively associated with functional efficiency (r = .47, p = .006), globally and within temporo-parietal and prefrontal cortices. Delayed orienting of attention likewise was associated with greater functional efficiency (r = - .46, p = .0133). Systemising was positively associated with global structural efficiency (r = .38, p = 0.018), driven specifically by temporal pole; theory-of-mind reaction time was related to structural efficiency (r = - .40, p = 0.0153) within right supramarginal gyrus. LIMITATIONS Interpretation of these relationships is complicated by the many senses of the term 'connectivity', including functional, structural and computational; by the approximation inherent in group functional anatomical parcellations when confronted with individual variation in functional anatomy; and by the validity, sensitivity and specificity of the several survey and experimental behavioural measures applied as correlates of brain structure and function. CONCLUSIONS Functional connectivities highlight distributed networks associated with domain-general properties such as attentional orienting and social cognition broadly, associating more impaired behaviour with more efficient brain networks that may reflect heightened feedforward information flow subserving autistic strengths and deficits alike. Structural connectivity results highlight specific anatomical nodes of convergence, reflecting cognitive and neuroanatomical independence of systemising and theory-of-mind. In addition, this work shows that individual differences in theory-of-mind related to brain structure can be measured behaviourally, and offers neuroanatomical evidence to pin down the slippery construct of 'systemising' as the capacity to construct invariant contextual associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Subhadip Paul
- MIND Research Network, 1101 Yale Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87106, USA.,National Brain Research Centre, NH-8, Nainwal Mode, Manesar, 122051, India
| | - Aditi Arora
- National Brain Research Centre, NH-8, Nainwal Mode, Manesar, 122051, India.,Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Universität Salzburg, Kapitelgasse 4-6, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Rashi Midha
- National Brain Research Centre, NH-8, Nainwal Mode, Manesar, 122051, India.,National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Hosur Road, Bangalore, 560029, India
| | - Dinh Vu
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Harald Schjelderups hus, Forskningsveien 3A, 0373, Oslo, Norway.,Department of Psychology, Chaucer Bldg., Nottingham Trent University, Shakespeare Street, Nottingham, NG1 4FQ, UK
| | - Prasun K Roy
- National Brain Research Centre, NH-8, Nainwal Mode, Manesar, 122051, India.,School of Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi, 221005, India
| | - Matthew K Belmonte
- National Brain Research Centre, NH-8, Nainwal Mode, Manesar, 122051, India. .,Department of Psychology, Chaucer Bldg., Nottingham Trent University, Shakespeare Street, Nottingham, NG1 4FQ, UK. .,The Com DEALL Trust, 224, 6th 'A' Main Road, near Specialist Hospital, 2nd Block, HRBR Layout, Bangalore, 560043, India.
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Olivetti Belardinelli M, Hünefeldt T, Meloni R, Squitieri F, Maffi S, Migliore S. Abnormal visual scanning and impaired mental state recognition in pre-manifest Huntington disease. Exp Brain Res 2020; 239:141-150. [PMID: 33130907 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-020-05957-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a genetic neurodegenerative disorder that affects not only the motor but also the cognitive and the neuropsychiatric domain. In particular, deficits in mental state recognition may emerge already at early pre-manifest stages of the disease. The aim of this research was to explore the relation between visual scanning behavior and complex mental state recognition in individuals with pre-manifest HD (preHD). Eighteen preHD and eighteen age- and gender-matched healthy controls took the revised "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" test while their eye-movements were tracked. In addition to the expected deficits in mental state recognition, preHD showed abnormalities concerning all three scanning variables we considered, namely the absolute number of fixations (FC), the average fixation duration (AFD), and the percentage of time spent fixating (FTR). In preHD, FC and FTR but not AFD predicted mental state recognition over and beyond general disease-related declines in cognition and motor functioning. Notably, preHD showed abnormal vertical and horizontal fixation patterns, and these patterns predicted mental state recognition, suggesting the involvement of mechanisms related to the embodied processing of emotional stimuli. Overall, our results suggest that impaired facial mental state recognition in pre-manifest HD is partly due to emotional-motivational factors affecting the visual scanning of facial expressions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Ferdinando Squitieri
- Huntington and Rare Diseases Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Casa Sollievo Della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
| | - Sabrina Maffi
- Huntington and Rare Diseases Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Casa Sollievo Della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
| | - Simone Migliore
- Huntington and Rare Diseases Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Casa Sollievo Della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
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Ding XP, Teo SLY, Tay C. The link between parental mental state talk and children's lying: An indirect effect via false belief understanding. J Exp Child Psychol 2020; 201:104990. [PMID: 32977115 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2020] [Revised: 08/20/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Past research shows that parental mental state talk (MST) is closely associated with children's theory-of-mind (ToM) understanding. The current study extends previous work by investigating whether parental MST is also associated with children's ToM in action (i.e., lying). A total of 90 Singaporean 3- to 5-year-olds participated in this study with their parents. Parental MST was measured using a storytelling task with a wordless picture book. Mediation analysis revealed an indirect effect: Children's ToM understanding served as a mediator in the path between parental MST and children's lying, whereas there was no significant direct effect of parental MST on children's lying. This study is the first to focus on the relation between parental MST and ToM in an applied setting. Our findings suggest that parental MST can help children to develop sociocognitive skills, which in turn can help children to gain the insight that lying may be used as a strategy for personal gain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Pan Ding
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117570, Singapore.
| | - Sherann Ler Ying Teo
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117570, Singapore
| | - Cleo Tay
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117570, Singapore.
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Hoyos C, Horton WS, Simms NK, Gentner D. Analogical Comparison Promotes Theory-of-Mind Development. Cogn Sci 2020; 44:e12891. [PMID: 32918371 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2018] [Revised: 06/16/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Theory-of-mind (ToM) is an integral part of social cognition, but how it develops remains a critical question. There is evidence that children can gain insight into ToM through experience, including language training and explanatory interactions. But this still leaves open the question of how children gain these insights-what processes drive this learning? We propose that analogical comparison is a key mechanism in the development of ToM. In Experiment 1, children were shown true- and false-belief scenarios and prompted to engage in multiple comparisons (e.g., belief vs. world). In Experiments 2a, 2b, and 3, children saw a series of true- and false-belief events, varying in order and in their alignability. Across these experiments, we found that providing support for comparing true- and false-belief scenarios led to increased performance on false-belief tests. These findings show that analogical comparison can support ToM learning.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Nina K Simms
- Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center, Northwestern University
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7
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Ye T, Fleming SM, Hamilton AF. Spontaneous attribution of false beliefs in adults examined using a signal detection approach. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2020; 73:555-567. [PMID: 31590607 DOI: 10.1177/1747021819884677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Understanding other people have beliefs different from ours or different from reality is critical to social interaction. Previous studies suggest that healthy adults possess an implicit mentalising system, but alternative explanations for data from reaction time false belief tasks have also been given. In this study, we combined signal detection theory (SDT) with a false belief task. As application of SDT allows us to separate perceptual sensitivity from criteria, we are able to investigate how another person's beliefs change the participant's perception of near-threshold stimuli. Participants (n = 55) watched four different videos in which an actor saw (or did not see) a Gabor cube hidden (or not hidden) behind an occluder. At the end of each video, the occluder vanished revealing a cube either with or without Gabor pattern, and participants needed to report whether they saw the Gabor pattern or not. A pre-registered analysis with classical statistics weakly suggests an effect of the actor's belief on participant's perceptions. An exploratory Bayesian analysis supports the idea that when the actor believed the cube was present, participants made slower and more liberal judgements. Although these data are not definitive, these current results indicate the value of new measures for understanding implicit false belief processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tian Ye
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Stephen M Fleming
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
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8
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION Schizotypy is a personality trait characterized by subclinical schizophrenia symptoms. Individuals with schizophrenia typically display behavioral mentalizing deficits and altered neural correlates during mentalizing. While schizotypy has been inconsistently related to behavioral mentalizing skills, its neural correlates of mentalizing are understudied so far. With this study we tested the association between schizotypy traits in healthy subjects and mentalizing-related neural correlates to provide new insights into neural processes associated with subclinical schizophrenia traits. METHODS Brain activation was measured using fMRI during an interactive mentalizing paradigm (Prisoner's Dilemma Game) in 164 healthy subjects. The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ-B) was administered to assess the three dimensions of schizotypy, i.e., cognitive-perceptual, interpersonal and disorganized. RESULTS We found that interpersonal schizotypy was significantly negatively correlated with brain activation in bilateral precunei and right caudate nucleus (among others) during mentalizing. By contrast, disorganized schizotypy was significantly positively correlated with mentalizing-associated neural activation in right precuneus, left middle cingulate cortex and right cerebellar hemisphere. No significant associations for cognitive-perceptual schizotypy and the SPQ-B total score were found. DISCUSSION Our study showed that interpersonal and disorganized schizotypy are associated with neural correlates of mentalizing in brain regions that are involved in self-processing and mentalizing. These brain regions have also been linked to mentalizing in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Acosta
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University of Marburg, Germany; The FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Finland.
| | - B Straube
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University of Marburg, Germany
| | - T Kircher
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University of Marburg, Germany
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de Sousa P, Sellwood W, Eldridge A, Bentall RP. The role of social isolation and social cognition in thought disorder. Psychiatry Res 2018; 269:56-63. [PMID: 30145302 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.08.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2018] [Revised: 08/13/2018] [Accepted: 08/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
A better understanding of how social factors relate to the psychological processes in thought disorder (TD) is necessary for the development of effective psychological interventions. Sixty-eight participants diagnosed with psychosis (18-65; 47.1% female) were recruited and evaluated on social cognition (Hinting Task, HT; and reading the mind in the eyes test, RMET), social isolation (size of social network, frequency and quality of contact), psychotic symptoms (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, PANSS) and TD (Thought, Language and Communication Disorders Scale, TLC). A mediation model was tested with isolation as the predictor, TD as the outcome, and performance on HT and RMET as the mediators. The final model, with adjustment for comorbid symptoms (i.e. delusions, suspiciousness, hallucinations, and negative symptoms), supported full mediation and explained a significant amount of the observed variance (60%). Performance on the HT was a significant mediator of the relationship between social isolation and TD. From the covariates, delusions contributed independently and significantly to TD. The implications of the findings for psychological practice, and TD-specific interventions, are discussed as well as the limitations of the study. Further avenues for symptom-specific research are discussed, in particular with reference to more complex psychosocial models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paulo de Sousa
- Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Liverpool, Whelan Building, The Quadrangle, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 3GB, United Kingdom.
| | - William Sellwood
- Division of Health Research, Faculty of Health and Medicine, Furness Building, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YG, United Kingdom
| | - Alaw Eldridge
- Resettle, Merseycare NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, L24 8RN, United Kingdom
| | - Richard P Bentall
- Clinical Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Cathedral Court, 1 Vicar Lane, Sheffield, S1 2L, United Kingdom
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Zainal NH, Newman MG. Worry amplifies theory-of-mind reasoning for negatively valenced social stimuli in generalized anxiety disorder. J Affect Disord 2018; 227:824-33. [PMID: 29254067 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.11.084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2017] [Revised: 11/06/2017] [Accepted: 11/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Theory-of-mind (ToM) is the ability to accurately infer others' thoughts and feelings. In generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), cognitive and emotion regulation theories allude to the plausibility that ToM is conditional on the degree of individuals' state worry, a hallmark symptom. GAD and state worry may interact to predict ToM constructs. However, no experiments have directly tested such interactional hypotheses, and used ToM as a framework to advance understanding of social cognition in GAD. This study therefore aimed to address this gap. METHODS 171 participants (69 GAD, 102 Controls) were randomly assigned to either a Worry or Relaxation induction and completed well-validated ToM decoding (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test) and reasoning (Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition) tasks. RESULTS GAD status significantly interacted with state worry to predict accuracy of overall reasoning, cognitive-reasoning, positive-reasoning, and negative-reasoning ToM. Worry, as opposed to relaxation, led sufferers of GAD to display more accurate overall reasoning and cognitive-reasoning ToM than controls, especially for negative signals. Participants with GAD who worried, but not relaxed, were also significantly better than the norm at interpreting negative signals. These findings remained after controlling for gender, executive function, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms. For other ToM abilities, mean scores of persons with and without GAD who either worried or relaxed were normative. LIMITATIONS The ToM reasoning measure lacked self-reference, and these preliminary findings warrant replication. CONCLUSIONS Theoretical implications, such as the state worry-contingent nature of ToM in GAD, and clinical implications are discussed.
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Song JH, Waller R, Hyde LW, Olson SL. Early Callous-Unemotional Behavior, Theory-of-Mind, and a Fearful/Inhibited Temperament Predict Externalizing Problems in Middle and Late Childhood. J Abnorm Child Psychol 2017; 44:1205-15. [PMID: 26582182 DOI: 10.1007/s10802-015-0099-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Childhood externalizing problems are more likely to be severe and persistent when combined with high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) behavior. A handful of recent studies have shown that CU behavior can also be reliably measured in the early preschool years, which may help to identify young children who are less likely to desist from early externalizing behaviors. The current study extends previous literature by examining the role of CU behavior in very early childhood in the prediction of externalizing problems in both middle and late childhood, and tests whether other relevant child characteristics, including Theory-of-Mind (ToM) and fearful/inhibited temperament moderate these pathways. Multi-method data, including parent reports of child CU behavior and fearful/inhibited temperament, observations of ToM, and teacher-reported externalizing problems were drawn from a prospective, longitudinal study of children assessed at ages 3, 6, and 10 (N = 241; 48 % female). Results demonstrated that high levels of CU behavior predicted externalizing problems at ages 6 and 10 over and above the effect of earlier externalizing problems at age 3, but that these main effects were qualified by two interactions. High CU behavior was related to higher levels of externalizing problems specifically for children with low ToM and a low fearful/inhibited temperament. The results show that a multitude of child characteristics likely interact across development to increase or buffer risk for child externalizing problems. These findings can inform the development of targeted early prevention and intervention for children with high CU behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ju-Hyun Song
- Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| | - Rebecca Waller
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Luke W Hyde
- Department of Psychology, Center for Human Growth and Development, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Sheryl L Olson
- Department of Psychology, Center for Human Growth and Development, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
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Alderson-Day B, Bernini M, Fernyhough C. Uncharted features and dynamics of reading: Voices, characters, and crossing of experiences. Conscious Cogn 2017; 49:98-109. [PMID: 28161599 PMCID: PMC5361686 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2017.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2016] [Revised: 11/16/2016] [Accepted: 01/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Vivid experiences of characters implicate simulation processes during reading. Reading imagery is related to features of inner speech and hallucination-proneness. Qualitative analysis highlights involuntary experiences of characters and voices.
Readers often describe vivid experiences of voices and characters in a manner that has been likened to hallucination. Little is known, however, of how common such experiences are, nor the individual differences they may reflect. Here we present the results of a 2014 survey conducted in collaboration with a national UK newspaper and an international book festival. Participants (n = 1566) completed measures of reading imagery, inner speech, and hallucination-proneness, including 413 participants who provided detailed free-text descriptions of their reading experiences. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that reading imagery was related to phenomenological characteristics of inner speech and proneness to hallucination-like experiences. However, qualitative analysis of reader’s accounts suggested that vivid reading experiences were marked not just by auditory phenomenology, but also their tendency to cross over into non-reading contexts. This supports social-cognitive accounts of reading while highlighting a role for involuntary and uncontrolled personality models in the experience of fictional characters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben Alderson-Day
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom.
| | - Marco Bernini
- Department of English Studies, Durham University, Hallgarth House, 77 Hallgarth Street, Durham DH1 3AY, United Kingdom
| | - Charles Fernyhough
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
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Schneider-Hassloff H, Straube B, Jansen A, Nuscheler B, Wemken G, Witt SH, Rietschel M, Kircher T. Oxytocin receptor polymorphism and childhood social experiences shape adult personality, brain structure and neural correlates of mentalizing. Neuroimage 2016; 134:671-684. [PMID: 27109357 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2015] [Revised: 03/29/2016] [Accepted: 04/04/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The oxytocin system is involved in human social behavior and social cognition such as attachment, emotion recognition and mentalizing (i.e. the ability to represent mental states of oneself and others). It is shaped by social experiences in early life, especially by parent-infant interactions. The single nucleotid polymorphism rs53576 in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene has been linked to social behavioral phenotypes. METHOD In 195 adult healthy subjects we investigated the interaction of OXTR rs53576 and childhood attachment security (CAS) on the personality traits "adult attachment style" and "alexithymia" (i.e. emotional self-awareness), on brain structure (voxel-based morphometry) and neural activation (fMRI) during an interactive mentalizing paradigm (prisoner's dilemma game; subgroup: n=163). RESULTS We found that in GG-homozygotes, but not in A-allele carriers, insecure childhood attachment is - in adulthood - associated with a) higher attachment-related anxiety and alexithymia, b) higher brain gray matter volume of left amygdala and lower volumes in right superior parietal lobule (SPL), left temporal pole (TP), and bilateral frontal regions, and c) higher mentalizing-related neural activity in bilateral TP and precunei, and right middle and superior frontal gyri. Interaction effects of genotype and CAS on brain volume and/or function were associated with individual differences in alexithymia and attachment-related anxiety. Interactive effects were in part sexually dimorphic. CONCLUSION The interaction of OXTR genotype and CAS modulates adult personality as well as brain structure and function of areas implicated in salience processing and mentalizing. Rs53576 GG-homozygotes are partially more susceptible to childhood attachment experiences than A-allele carriers.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Schneider-Hassloff
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps University Marburg, Germany.
| | - B Straube
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps University Marburg, Germany
| | - A Jansen
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps University Marburg, Germany
| | - B Nuscheler
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps University Marburg, Germany
| | - G Wemken
- Institute of Psychology, Social Psychology, Philipps University Marburg, Germany
| | - S H Witt
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Germany
| | - M Rietschel
- Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Germany
| | - T Kircher
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps University Marburg, Germany
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Kana RK, Maximo JO, Williams DL, Keller TA, Schipul SE, Cherkassky VL, Minshew NJ, Just MA. Aberrant functioning of the theory-of-mind network in children and adolescents with autism. Mol Autism 2015; 6:59. [PMID: 26512314 PMCID: PMC4624365 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-015-0052-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2015] [Accepted: 10/16/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Theory-of-mind (ToM), the ability to infer people’s thoughts and feelings, is a pivotal skill in effective social interactions. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been found to have altered ToM skills, which significantly impacts the quality of their social interactions. Neuroimaging studies have reported altered activation of the ToM cortical network, especially in adults with autism, yet little is known about the brain responses underlying ToM in younger individuals with ASD. This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated the neural mechanisms underlying ToM in high-functioning children and adolescents with ASD and matched typically developing (TD) peers. Methods fMRI data were acquired from 13 participants with ASD and 13 TD control participants while they watched animations involving two “interacting” geometrical shapes. Results Participants with ASD showed significantly reduced activation, relative to TD controls, in regions considered part of the ToM network, the mirror network, and the cerebellum. Functional connectivity analyses revealed underconnectivity between frontal and posterior regions during task performance in the ASD participants. Conclusions Overall, the findings of this study reveal disruptions in the brain circuitry underlying ToM in ASD at multiple levels, including decreased activation and decreased functional connectivity. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13229-015-0052-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajesh K Kana
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, CIRC 235G, 1719 6th Ave South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0021 USA
| | - Jose O Maximo
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, CIRC 235G, 1719 6th Ave South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0021 USA
| | - Diane L Williams
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA USA
| | - Timothy A Keller
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA USA
| | - Sarah E Schipul
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA USA
| | | | - Nancy J Minshew
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA USA
| | - Marcel Adam Just
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA USA
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15
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Kurtz MM, Gagen E, Rocha NBF, Machado S, Penn DL. Comprehensive treatments for social cognitive deficits in schizophrenia: A critical review and effect-size analysis of controlled studies. Clin Psychol Rev 2015; 43:80-9. [PMID: 26437567 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2015.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 96] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2015] [Revised: 08/28/2015] [Accepted: 09/16/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Recent advances in psychosocial treatments for schizophrenia have targeted social cognitive deficits. A critical literature review and effect-size (ES) analysis was conducted to investigate the efficacy of comprehensive programs of social cognitive training in schizophrenia. Results revealed 16 controlled studies consisting of seven models of comprehensive treatment with only three of these treatment models investigated in more than one study. The effects of social cognitive training were reported in 11/15 studies that included facial affect recognition skills (ES=.84) and 10/13 studies that included theory-of-mind (ES=.70) as outcomes. Less than half (4/9) of studies that measured attributional style as an outcome reported effects of treatment, but effect sizes across studies were significant (ESs=.30-.52). The effect sizes for symptoms were modest, but, with the exception of positive symptoms, significant (ESs=.32-.40). The majority of trials were randomized (13/16), selected active control conditions (11/16) and included at least 30 participants (12/16). Concerns for this area of research include the absence of blinded outcome raters in more than 50% of trials and low rates of utilization of procedures for maintaining treatment fidelity. These findings provide preliminary support for the broader use of comprehensive social cognitive training procedures as a psychosocial intervention for schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew M Kurtz
- Department of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience and Behavior, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States.
| | - Emily Gagen
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, United States
| | - Nuno B F Rocha
- Polytechnic Institute of Porto, School of Allied Health Technologies, Porto, Portugal
| | - Sergio Machado
- Laboratory of Panic and Respiration, Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Physical Activity Neuroscience, Physical Activity Sciences Postgraduate Program, Salgado de Oliveira University, Niterói, Brazil
| | - David L Penn
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, United States; Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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16
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Libero LE, Maximo JO, Deshpande HD, Klinger LG, Klinger MR, Kana RK. The role of mirroring and mentalizing networks in mediating action intentions in autism. Mol Autism 2014; 5:50. [PMID: 25352976 PMCID: PMC4210608 DOI: 10.1186/2040-2392-5-50] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2014] [Accepted: 09/26/2014] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The ability to interpret agents' intent from their actions is a vital skill in successful social interaction. However, individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been found to have difficulty in attributing intentions to others. The present study investigated the neural mechanisms of inferring intentions from actions in individuals with ASD. METHODS Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired from 21 high-functioning young adults with ASD and 22 typically developing (TD) control participants, while making judgments about the means (how an action is performed) and intention (why an action is performed) of a model's actions. RESULTS Across both groups of participants, the middle and superior temporal cortex, extending to temporoparietal junction, and posterior cingulate cortex, responded significantly to inferring the intent of an action, while inferior parietal lobule and occipital cortices were active for judgments about the means of an action. Participants with ASD had significantly reduced activation in calcarine sulcus and significantly increased activation in left inferior frontal gyrus, compared to TD peers, while attending to the intentions of actions. Also, ASD participants had weaker functional connectivity between frontal and posterior temporal regions while processing intentions. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that processing actions and intentions may not be mutually exclusive, with reliance on mirroring and mentalizing mechanisms mediating action understanding. Overall, inferring information about others' actions involves activation of the mirror neuron system and theory-of-mind regions, and this activation (and the synchrony between activated brain regions) appears altered in young adults with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren E Libero
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, CIRC 235G, 1719 6th Ave South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0021 USA
| | - Jose O Maximo
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, CIRC 235G, 1719 6th Ave South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0021 USA
| | - Hrishikesh D Deshpande
- Department of Radiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, CIRC 235F, 1719 6th Ave South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0021 USA
| | - Laura G Klinger
- Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication related handicapped CHildren (TEACCH) Autism Program, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Campus Box 7180, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27510 USA
| | - Mark R Klinger
- Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of North Carolina, Bondurant Hall, CB #7120, Chapel Hill, NC 25799-7120 USA
| | - Rajesh K Kana
- Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, CIRC 235G, 1719 6th Ave South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0021 USA
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17
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Strickland B, Fisher M, Keil F, Knobe J. Syntax and intentionality: an automatic link between language and theory-of-mind. Cognition 2014; 133:249-61. [PMID: 25058414 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2014.05.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2012] [Revised: 05/27/2014] [Accepted: 05/30/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Three studies provided evidence that syntax influences intentionality judgments. In Experiment 1, participants made either speeded or unspeeded intentionality judgments about ambiguously intentional subjects or objects. Participants were more likely to judge grammatical subjects as acting intentionally in the speeded relative to the reflective condition (thus showing an intentionality bias), but grammatical objects revealed the opposite pattern of results (thus showing an unintentionality bias). In Experiment 2, participants made an intentionality judgment about one of the two actors in a partially symmetric sentence (e.g., "John exchanged products with Susan"). The results revealed a tendency to treat the grammatical subject as acting more intentionally than the grammatical object. In Experiment 3 participants were encouraged to think about the events that such sentences typically refer to, and the tendency was significantly reduced. These results suggest a privileged relationship between language and central theory-of-mind concepts. More specifically, there may be two ways of determining intentionality judgments: (1) an automatic verbal bias to treat grammatical subjects (but not objects) as intentional (2) a deeper, more careful consideration of the events typically described by a sentence.
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Frölander HE, Möller C, Marshall JD, Sundqvist A, Rönnåsen B, Falkensson L, Lyxell B. Theory-of-mind in adolescents and young adults with Alström syndrome. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2014; 78:530-6. [PMID: 24485176 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2013.12.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2013] [Revised: 12/19/2013] [Accepted: 12/20/2013] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The study focuses on theory-of-mind in adolescents and young adults with Alström syndrome (ALMS). ALMS, an autosomal recessive syndrome causes juvenile blindness, sensorineural hearing loss, cardiomyopathy, endocrinological disorders and metabolic dysfunction. Theory-of-mind (ToM) refers to the ability to impute mental states to one self and to others. Clinical observations have revealed an increased occurrence of deviances in mental state understanding in ALMS. In the present study ToM will be examined and related to working memory (WM), verbal ability and sensory loss. METHODS Twelve young individuals (16-37 years) with ALMS and 24 nondisabled individuals matched on age, gender and educational level participated. ToM was assessed by means of a multiple task that taxes the ability to understand thoughts and feelings of story characters'. WM was examined by means of a reading span task and verbal ability by means of a vocabulary test. RESULTS The ALMS group performed at significantly lower levels in ToM tasks and displayed a higher variability in performance than the control group. Individuals with ALMS and a relatively poor level performance provided fewer correct mental state inferences in ToM tasks than ALMS individuals with relatively higher performance levels. ALMS individuals with relatively high performance levels made as many correct inferences in ToM tasks as the control group, but their inferences were more often incomplete. Vocabulary skills and educational level, but not WM-capacity predicted ToM performance. Degree of deafblindness did not have an impact on ToM. Age of onset of visual loss but not hearing loss related to ToM. CONCLUSIONS The individuals with ALMS display a high degree of heterogeneity in terms of ToM, where some individuals reached performance levels comparable to nondisabled individuals. The results are discussed with respect to how cognitive and verbal abilities and factors related to the disability affect ToM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hans Erik Frölander
- Health Academy, Örebro University, Örebro SE 701 82, Sweden; Audiological Research Centre, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro SE 701 85, Sweden; The Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping, Sweden; Research on Hearing and Deafness (HEAD) Graduate School, Linköping, Sweden.
| | - Claes Möller
- Health Academy, Örebro University, Örebro SE 701 82, Sweden; Audiological Research Centre, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro SE 701 85, Sweden; Department of Audiology, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro SE 701 85, Sweden; The Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping, Sweden; The Linnaeus Centre HEAD, Linköping, Sweden
| | | | - Annette Sundqvist
- Department of Behavioral Science and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping SE 581 83, Sweden; The Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping, Sweden; The Linnaeus Centre HEAD, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Berit Rönnåsen
- Health Academy, Örebro University, Örebro SE 701 82, Sweden; Audiological Research Centre, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro SE 701 85, Sweden; The Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping, Sweden; Research on Hearing and Deafness (HEAD) Graduate School, Linköping, Sweden
| | - Lil Falkensson
- The Swedish National Expert Team for the Diagnoses of Deafblindness, National Resource Centre, Lund, SE 223 50, Sweden
| | - Björn Lyxell
- Department of Behavioral Science and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping SE 581 83, Sweden; The Swedish Institute for Disability Research, Linköping, Sweden; The Linnaeus Centre HEAD, Linköping, Sweden
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