Impaired theory of mind is one of traits of schizophrenia and is a critical factor to predict functional outcome of patients with schizophrenia. Current theory of mind tasks fail to capture the ability to infer mental states of others in real-life situations. Furthermore, almost all of studies investigating the neural basis of impaired theory of mind in schizophrenia focus on activation in an individual brain region, but leave the functional interactions among brain regions behind. This project aims to study characteristics of impaired theory of mind using paradigms based on game theory and explore the neural basis behind the impaired theory of mind from the perspective of brain network both in schizophrenic patients with negative symptoms and patients with positive symptoms. Specifically, in study 1, we will use theory of mind paradigms based on game theory to study whether patients can appropriately infer mental states of their partners in social interaction situations, and then to find the relationships between the impaired theory of mind and the clinical characteristics, cognition and social function in both of the two groups of schizophrenic patients. In study 2, we will investigate the brain network relevant to theory of mind based on game theory and explore the relationship between abnormalities in brain networks and the impaired theory of mind in these schizophrenic patients using task-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and resting-state fMRI. This project will clarify the characteristics of theory of mind based on game theory and its neural basis in schizophrenic patients with negative symptoms and patients with positive symptoms. Finally, this project will improve our understanding on psychopathology of schizophrenia, will be helpful to find a new biomarker for early diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of schizophrenia, and will provide evidences for improving therapy and intervention of schizophrenia.
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