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ABSTRACT
The mentalizing network is atypically activated in autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. While these disorders are considered diagnostically independent, expressions of both can co-occur in the same individual. We examined the concurrent effect of autism traits and psychosis proneness on the activity of the mentalizing network in 24 neurotypical adults while performing a social competitive game. Activations were observed in the paracingulate cortex and the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ). Autism traits and psychosis proneness did not modulate activity within the paracingulate or the dorsal component of the rTPJ. However, diametric modulations of autism traits and psychosis proneness were observed in the posterior (rvpTPJ) and anterior (rvaTPJ) subdivisions of the ventral rTPJ, which respectively constitute core regions within the mentalizing and attention-reorienting networks. Within the rvpTPJ, increasing autism tendencies decreased activity, and increasing psychosis proneness increased activity. This effect was reversed within the rvaTPJ. We suggest that this results from an interaction between regions responsible for higher level social cognitive processing (rvpTPJ) and regions responsible for domain-general attentional processes (rvaTPJ). The observed diametric modulation of autism tendencies and psychosis proneness of neuronal activity within the mentalizing network highlights the importance of assessing both autism and psychosis expressions within the individual.
Acknowledgments
We thank Rogier Mars and Matthew Rushworth for use of masks. Hannah Widdman for helping prototype an initial version of the RPS task.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Supplemental data
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Additional information
Notes on contributors
Ahmad M. Abu-Akel
A.M.A. designed the study, collected and analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. I.A.A. and S.J.W. designed the study. P.C.H. designed the study, collected and analyzed the data. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.
Ian A. Apperly
A.M.A. designed the study, collected and analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. I.A.A. and S.J.W. designed the study. P.C.H. designed the study, collected and analyzed the data. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.
Stephen J. Wood
A.M.A. designed the study, collected and analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. I.A.A. and S.J.W. designed the study. P.C.H. designed the study, collected and analyzed the data. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.
Peter C. Hansen
A.M.A. designed the study, collected and analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. I.A.A. and S.J.W. designed the study. P.C.H. designed the study, collected and analyzed the data. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.