Search Results (19)

Background/Objectives: Social cognition impairment is common in multiple sclerosis (MS) and could implicate the well-being of patients by promoting difficulties in social interactions. This study investigated the relationship between social cognition and quality of life (QoL) in patients with MS (PwMSs). Methods: In total, 100 PwMSs, enrolled as per distinct criteria, underwent neuropsychological assessment using validated questionnaires and scales. To assess QoL, Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 (MSQOL-54) questionnaires, both physical and mental, were utilized. The components of social cognition were evaluated using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and the Faux Pas task. The type of MS and years since diagnosis were also recorded. Results: The RMET score (β = 0.336; p = 0.001) and years since diagnosis (β = −0.225; p = 0.017) emerged as significant predictors of physical QoL, whereas the Faux Pas score did not significantly predict MSQOL-54_PHYSICAL scores (p = 0.451). Both Faux Pas (β = 0.247; p = 0.015) and RMET scores (β = 0.221; p = 0.028) showed a positive association with MSQOL-54_MENTAL scores. The years since diagnosis did not significantly predict the mental component of QoL (p = 0.635). Conclusions: Social cognition deficits are crucial for the social functioning of patients with MS, inevitably affecting both physical and mental aspects of QoL. Full article

The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) is widely regarded as the primary instrument for measuring the Theory of Mind (ToM). However, its reliability, validity, and administration procedures, particularly across the lifespan and within adolescence, have been a subject of controversy. This study addresses these concerns using the Spanish version of the RMET with a Spanish sample of 162 late adolescents (93 women). The main findings indicate low reliability and questionable validity, casting doubt on the RMET’s suitability for assessing ToM during adolescence. The study discusses the administration of the instrument as a potential factor contributing to its psychometric deficiencies. Furthermore, it posits that the assumption of ToM as a singular, unitary construct may compromise the validity of the instrument. Full article

Background/Objectives: The present pilot study tested and reports the Italian adaptation of the Reading the Mind in Film test (RMF), an ecological test for assessing, in Italian adults with and without Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), complex emotion and mental state recognition in natural settings and everyday situations. Method: A sample of young adults with Autism Spectrum Condition (with ASC; n = 22), attending a filmmaking course at a post-diploma school (Scuola Futuro Lavoro) took part in the study and was compared with a control group of neurotypical university students (without ASC; n = 22). All participants underwent individual testing and completed the Italian version of the Autism Questionnaire before performing the Italian version of both the RMF task and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET). The latter, widely used to evaluate the ability to detect what someone else is thinking or feeling from the eye region. Results: The findings of the control group were in line with the original study, demonstrating the validity and reliability of the translation and the dubbing procedure of the RMF test. However, no main significant differences in performance were found between the two groups. Conclusions: Such results suggest that taking a course in film and video making may have helped the autistic students learn how to recognize mental states. Full article

Although arginine methylation (R-methylation) is one of the most important post-translational modifications (PTMs) conserved in eukaryotes, it has not been studied to the same extent as phosphorylation and ubiquitylation. Technical constraints, which are in the process of being resolved, may partly explain this lack of success. Our knowledge of R-methylation has recently evolved considerably, particularly in metazoans, where misregulation of the enzymes that deposit this PTM is implicated in several diseases and cancers. Indeed, the roles of R-methylation have been highlighted through the analyses of the main actors of this pathway: the PRMT writer enzymes, the TUDOR reader proteins, and potential “eraser” enzymes. In contrast, R-methylation has been much less studied in plants. Even so, it has been shown that R-methylation in plants, as in animals, regulates housekeeping processes such as transcription, RNA silencing, splicing, ribosome biogenesis, and DNA damage. R-methylation has recently been highlighted in the regulation of membrane-free organelles in animals, but this role has not yet been demonstrated in plants. The identified R-met targets modulate key biological processes such as flowering, shoot and root development, and responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. Finally, arginine demethylases activity has mostly been identified in vitro, so further studies are needed to unravel the mechanism of arginine demethylation. Full article

Background: Theory of mind (ToM), the ability to recognize the mental states and emotions of others, is central to effective social relationships. Measuring higher-order ToM skills in gifted children may be a useful way to identify the tendency to experience difficulties in social behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between intelligence and sex in children using ToM and social behavior measures. Methods: Children aged 10–12 years constituted both the gifted (n = 45) and non-gifted (n = 45) groups. The participants were assessed for prosocial behaviors and peer problems using the subscales of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire and in terms of ToM using the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test-Child Version (RMET-C) and the Faux Pas Recognition Test-Child Version (FPRT-C). Results: ToM test results were higher in gifted children and girls. Peer problems were lower in gifted children. Prosocial behavior was higher in girls. No relationship was determined between ToM tests and peer problems or prosocial behavior in gifted children, but such a relationship was observed in the non-gifted group. Conclusions: This study shows that gifted children with high cognitive skills also possess superior social cognition skills. Advanced ToM skills in gifted children may be important to supporting their social and cognitive development. The differences between boys and girls should be considered in educational interventions applied to children in the social sphere. Full article

Rejective parenting is a major antecedent of emotional instability and aggressive behavioral problems. Previous studies have reported that emotional problems, such as depression, anxiety, aggression, and conduct problems in children and adolescents, improve through interventions that enhance emotional recognition competency. In this study, we explored whether the emotional recognition ability levels of individual adolescents moderated the pathway of negative parenting on aggression mediated by depression The moderated mediating effect of emotional recognition competency was investigated through examining 2265 first-year high school students using the 2021 data from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey 2018. There was no significant moderating effect on the direct pathway from rejective parenting to aggression. The moderating effect of emotional recognition competency on the indirect pathway leading to aggression through depression in rejective parenting was significant. These results suggest that the ability to correctly understand signals related to the emotions of others can play an important role in reducing depression and aggressive behavior by reducing conflict with people around them and experiencing more support. Full article

Aging involves several changes depending on genetic and behavioral factors, such as lifestyle and the number and quality of social relationships, which in turn can be influenced by empathy. Here, the change in the perceived social support across the lifespan as a function of empathy was investigated, considering the mediating role of empathy after controlling for gender and education. In total, 441 people (18–91 years old) filled in the Italian short version of the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL-12), the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ6), as well as the Empathy Questionnaire (EQ), and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMET). The mediation analyses with ISEL-12 showed that age and the EQ fully mediated the relationship between age and appraisal, belonging, and tangible scores. Further, the EQ fully mediated only the relationship between age and SSQ6-People. These results showed that empathic skills are key in the relationships between age and social support. This suggests that empathy can trigger social support and, ultimately, well-being if stimulated across the lifespan, especially from a young age; this would help to form the socio-emotional competence across the years as a sort of cushion that can be useful in the older to fulfill active aging. Full article

Social cognition has a broad theoretical definition, which includes the ability to mentalise, i.e., recognise and infer mental states to explain and predict another’s behaviour. There is growing recognition of the clinical, diagnostic, and prognostic value of assessing a person’s ability to perform social cognitive tasks, particularly aspects of theory of mind, such as mentalising. One such measure of mentalising is the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ test (RMET). This systematic review and meta-analysis consider performance on the RMET, applied to people with neurodegenerative conditions in matched control studies, since its publication in 2001. Overall, this review includes 22 papers with data from N = 800 participants with neurodegenerative conditions: Alzheimer’s disease, n = 31; Parkinson’s disease, n = 221; Lewy body dementia, n = 33; motor neuron disease, n = 218; Huntington’s disease n = 80; multiple sclerosis, n = 217; and N = 601 matched typical controls. Our meta-analyses show that deficits in mentalising, as measured by the RMET, are consistently reported across neurodegenerative conditions, with participants in both early and late disease stages being affected. Social cognition is an emerging field of cognitive neuroscience requiring specific and sensitive measurement across each subdomain. Adult-based meta-normative data feature, for which future groups or individuals could be compared against, and hypotheses relating to the source of these mentalising deficits are further discussed. This review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020182874). Full article

(1) Background: although studies of cognitive functions are still limited in borderline personality disorder (BPD), the initial evidence suggested that BPD patients have deficits of executive functions and social cognition. In addition, patients who report physical and psychic traumatic experiences in childhood and adolescence show considerable neurocognitive impairment and severe BPD symptoms. The present study has a twofold aim: (1) to evaluate the differences in neurocognitive performances between BPD patients and healthy controls and (2) to verify in the BPD patients group whether neurocognitive deficits have the role of mediating the effect of early traumas on BPD psychopathology. (2) Methods: 69 subjects were enrolled: 38 outpatients with a diagnosis of BPD (DSM-5) and 31 healthy controls. BPD patients were tested with the Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index (BPDSI), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire–Short Form (CTQ-SF). All subjects were evaluated with the Iowa Gambling task (IGT), the Berg card sorting test (BCST), the Tower of London task (ToL), and the Reading-the-mind-in-the-eyes-test (RMET). Statistical analysis was performed with the analysis of variance to compare the cognitive performances between BPD patients and controls. A mediation analysis was conducted with the Sobel Test in the BPD patients group. The significance level was p ≤ 0.05. (3) Results: significant differences between the two groups were found for several parameters of all the cognitive tests examined: BCST, IGT, ToL, and RMET. Mediation analysis with the Sobel test demonstrated that the percentage of correct answers in the BCST (BCSTc) and the RMET score significantly mediated the relation between the CTQ total score and BPDSI total score. (4) Conclusions: BPD patients showed an impairment of the following executive functions: set shifting, decision making, planning and problem solving, and social cognition abilities, in comparison with controls. Our results suggested that the effect of early trauma on BPD psychopathology was mediated by a deficit in two cognitive domains: cognitive flexibility and social cognition. Full article

Previous work has shown that emotion recognition is positively related to effective social interactions, but the mechanism underlying this relationship has remained largely unclear. Here, we examined the possibility that people who understand others’ emotions also talk to them using similar language. In the current study participants (N = 106) listened to emotional stories people shared from their own lives. They were later asked to recognize the storytellers’ feelings and finally provide written support messages. Perceivers’ ability to accurately recognize others’ feelings was assessed using the Emotional Accuracy Test (EAT), which uses naturalistic verbal and nonverbal emotional cues, and using two standard tests of nonverbal emotion recognition (GERT, RMET). The language of the expressor (target) was compared to the language of the supporter (participant) to quantify Language Style Matching, a proxy for effective communication. People who perform better in emotion recognition with verbal cues (EAT) also communicate their understanding and support using language similar to the expresser (r = .22, p = .02). This relation was insignificant for tests without verbal information (RMET, GERT). The result provides additional construct validation for the EAT and supports the view that understanding the emotions of others and communicating with them are two manifestations of a broader interpersonal skill. Full article

(1) Background: Emotional recognition (ER), the ability to read into others’ minds and recognize others’ emotional states, is important in social environment adaptation. Recently it has been found that ER difficulties affect patients with multiple sclerosis (pMS) and relate to different gray matter atrophy patterns from secondary progressive (SP-pMS) and relapsing–remitting (RR-pMS). The aim of this study was to compare the performances of the two MS phenotypes on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test (RMEt) and other cognitive, mood and fatigue measures. We also examined associations between performance on the RMEt and cognitive, mood and fatigue variables. (2) Methods: A total of 43 pMS (27RR-pMS/16SP-pMS) underwent a clinical assessment, the RMEt, the cognitive battery, and completed mood and fatigue questionnaires. Both groups’ performances on the RMEt were then correlated with all these measures. (3) Results: the RMEt scores of RR-pMS were significantly correlated with the impairment degree in some cognitive scores. SP-pMS scores correlated mainly with fatigue, anxiety, anger and depression. (4) Conclusions: ER performances relate to cognitive aspects in RR-pMS, whereas mainly to mood outcomes in the SP-pMS group. We can hypothesize that deficits in ER are a further sign of disease progression. Our data support the different roles of cognitive and emotional deficits related to different disease courses and lesional correlates. Full article

The behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is primarily characterized by deficits in social behaviour and theory of mind (ToM). Although a consensus has been reached on the roles of the cerebellum in social cognition and ToM, its specific contribution to social impairments of bvFTD has never been specifically investigated. The aim of this study was to assess cerebellar structural and functional changes in patients with bvFTD and their potential association with ToM deficits of patients. Therefore, 15 patients with bvFTD and 34 healthy subjects underwent an MRI examination. Voxel-based morphometry was used to assess cerebellar (GM) changes, and a seed-based analysis was performed to test cerebello-cerebral functional connectivity (FC). The performance of bvFTD patients in a ToM task was then correlated with FC patterns. Compared to healthy subjects, patients with bvFTD showed significant cerebellar GM loss specifically involving cerebellar Crus I-II. Additionally, FC changes FC were observed between the cerebellum and cerebral regions related to ToM. Interestingly, patterns of changes in cerebello-cerebral FC correlated with altered ToM performances explored using the “Reading the Mind with the Eyes” test (RMET) of patients. The present findings suggest that specific changes in cerebello-cerebral FC may underlie ToM alterations in patients with bvFTD. Full article

(1) Background: there is an ongoing debate about whether psychopathic traits increase or decrease cognitive empathy/Theory of Mind. (2) Methods: using a representative sample of 204 Spanish convicted inmates incarcerated at the Pereiro de Aguiar Penitentiary in Ourense, Spain, we investigated the relationship between two tools for the assessment of psychopathy, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) and the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP), and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), a well-known measure of cognitive empathy. (3) Results: The results showed no clear connection between the scores on the psychopathy assessment tools and RMET performance. This lack of association was stronger when the age variable was included in the multivariate analysis. (4) Conclusions: the results of this study failed to detect any clear link between psychopathy and cognitive empathy performance. Accordingly, our results indicate that psychopathy neither improves nor worsens cognitive empathy. Full article

Background: Theory of mind (ToM) is a fundamental aspect of social cognition. Previous studies on age-related changes in mentalizing processes have provided conflicting results. This study aims to investigate the age-related changes in the cognitive and affective components of ToM throughout adulthood. Methods: Two hundred and thirty-eight healthy participants divided into five age groups (18–40 years old; 41–50 years old; 51–60 years old; 61–70 years; 71–80 years old) underwent tasks assessing the cognitive (ToM Picture Sequencing Task, TMPS, and the Advanced Test of ToM, ATT) and affective (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task, RMET, and the Emotion Attribution Task, EAT) components of ToM, in both verbal and nonverbal modality. Results: Regarding affective ToM, both the youngest- and middle-old adult groups (61 to 80 years) performed worse than the young and youngest-middle adult groups (18 to 50 years) in the RMET, but no significant differences were found in the EAT. Regarding cognitive ToM, the middle-old adult group (71 to 80 years) performed worse than the young adult group (18 to 40 years) only in the TMPS, but no significant differences were found in the ATT. Conclusion: Rather than a general decline in ToM, our results provide evidence regarding selective changes in ToM in older adults, further confirming the dissociation of cognitive and affective ToM. Full article

A growing body of literature suggests a close link between olfaction and social expertise. The current study examines whether mentalizing skills are related to olfactory discrimination performance. In order to assess their mentalizing ability, 21 women and 20 men completed the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test (RMET). Here, the participants have to infer other persons’ mental state from photographs of eye regions. Odor discrimination was assessed using the “Düsseldorf Odour Discrimination Test” (DODT). The DODT consists of 15 items, each containing mixtures of four monomolecular substances. Within each item, two bottles contain the same mixing ratio, while the third contains the reversed mixing ratio. The participants had to identify the deviating odor. Women’s expertise in mentalizing (RMET score) is strongly related to olfactory discrimination performance (DODT score): The better women are in mentalizing, the better their performance in olfactory discrimination (rho = 0.572, p = 0.042, Bonferroni-corrected). Men’s mentalizing capability was unrelated to olfactory discrimination (rho = −0.117, p > 0.999, Bonferroni-corrected). The current results suggest that the social skill of mentalizing might underly the link between olfaction and social integration, at least in women, and are discussed with regard to the social nature of human olfaction. Full article