Poster No:
649
Submission Type:
Late-Breaking Abstract Submission
Authors:
Ding-ding Hu1,2, Xiao-dong Guo1,2,3, Yi Wang1,2
Institutions:
1Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, 2Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, 3Peking University Sixth Hospital, Beijing, China
First Author:
Ding-ding Hu
Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences|Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Beijing, China|Beijing, China
Co-Author(s):
Xiao-dong Guo
Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences|Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences|Peking University Sixth Hospital
Beijing, China|Beijing, China|Beijing, China
Yi Wang
Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences|Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Beijing, China|Beijing, China
Introduction:
Schizophrenia (SCZ) is characterized by deficits in reward processing and social cognition. Emerging theoretical frameworks highlight the motivational account of empathy, suggesting reward processing may critically shapes our empathic behaviour (Contreras-Huerta, 2020; Zaki, 2014). This study employs multi-task fMRI fusion to investigate the joint neural networks of reward anticipation and empathy in SCZ patients and healthy controls (HCs), aiming to uncover neural alterations underlying social dysfunction in SCZ.
Methods:
Forty-one SCZ patients and 39 matched HCs underwent three fMRI paradigms on a 3T GE MR750 scanner: 1) the Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task, probing monetary reward anticipation; 2) the Social Incentive Delay (SID) task, assessing social reward anticipation; 3) the Chinese version of the Empathic Accuracy Task (EAT; Hu, 2024), where participants continuously rated the emotional valence of a target while watching his/her autobiographical narratives. Clinical symptoms and social functioning in SCZ patients were evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Personal and Social Performance (PSP) scale. Following preprocessing, the images of MID and SID tasks were modeled using an event-related design, with onsets corresponding to the reward anticipation phase (reward vs. neutral conditions; duration = 0). The EAT was analyzed using a block design, modelling the onset of empathy phase (start of the video) and duration (length of each video). Contrast images were generated ([reward > neutral] for MID/SID; [empathy > 0] for EAT) and normalized as features for pairwise multi-task fusion (MID-EAT, SID-EAT). Whole-brain canonical correlation analysis (CCA) combined with joint independent component analysis (jICA) was performed (Sui, 2010): 1) the minimum description length criterion determined the optimal number of components; 2) principal component analysis reduced the feature dimensionality; 3) CCA established feature subspaces; and 4) jICA identified independent joint components. Group differences in subject component loadings between SCZ patients and HCs were assessed using two-sample t-tests (significance threshold: p < 0.05). Finally, Pearson correlations were computed between component loadings and clinical characteristics in SCZ patients.
Results:
Five independent components (ICs) were identified in the MID-EAT fusion analysis (source correlation: 0.61-0.82), encompassing the bilateral superior temporal gyrus (STG)(IC2); bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), anterior insula (AI), and supramarginal gyrus (SMG)(IC3); precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)(IC4); visual cortex (IC5); and a task-negative component involving dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and PCC (IC1). Comparatively, the SID-EAT fusion revealed four ICs (source correlations: 0.78-0.86). These ICs exhibited coactivation patterns similar to the MID-EAT, including the bilateral STG; visual cortex; IFG, AI, and SMG, and a task-negative component involving dmPFC and PCC. Group comparisons revealed non-significant group differences in component loadings identified in MID-EAT/SID-EAT fusion analyses, while marginal significant differences were found in ICs identified in MID-EAT fusion, with patients showing lower loadings in IC1(t= -1.74, p=0.086) and IC5 (t= -1.68, p=0.098), while higher loadings in IC2 (t=1.70, p=0.093). Notably, loadings in IC2 were positively correlated with positive symptoms severity (r=0.45, p=0.004) and marginally negative correlation with social functioning (r= -0.27, p=0.086) in SCZ patients.
Conclusions:
This study reveals shared neural mechanisms between reward anticipation and empathic accuracy, involving the STG, IFG, AI, SMG, PCC, and dmPFC, and found alterations in SCZ patients, linking to greater positive symptoms and poorer social functioning. These findings highlight disrupted reward-empathy interactions in SCZ and the potential of multitask fMRI fusion for investigating cross-domain neural dysfunction.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Psychiatric (eg. Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia)
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Reward and Punishment
Social Cognition 1
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Multivariate Approaches 2
Keywords:
ADULTS
Cognition
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Multivariate
Psychiatric Disorders
Schizophrenia
Social Interactions
Other - Reward Anticipation, Empathic Accuracy, Multi-task Fusion
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
By submitting your proposal, you grant permission for the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) to distribute your work in any format, including video, audio print and electronic text through OHBM OnDemand, social media channels, the OHBM website, or other electronic publications and media.
I accept
The Open Science Special Interest Group (OSSIG) is introducing a reproducibility challenge for OHBM 2025. This new initiative aims to enhance the reproducibility of scientific results and foster collaborations between labs. Teams will consist of a “source” party and a “reproducing” party, and will be evaluated on the success of their replication, the openness of the source work, and additional deliverables. Click here for more information.
Propose your OHBM abstract(s) as source work for future OHBM meetings by selecting one of the following options:
I do not want to participate in the reproducibility challenge.
Please indicate below if your study was a "resting state" or "task-activation” study.
Task-activation
Healthy subjects only or patients (note that patient studies may also involve healthy subjects):
Patients
Was this research conducted in the United States?
No
Were any human subjects research approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board or ethics panel?
NOTE: Any human subjects studies without IRB approval will be automatically rejected.
Yes
Were any animal research approved by the relevant IACUC or other animal research panel?
NOTE: Any animal studies without IACUC approval will be automatically rejected.
Not applicable
Please indicate which methods were used in your research:
Functional MRI
For human MRI, what field strength scanner do you use?
3.0T
Which processing packages did you use for your study?
SPM
Other, Please list
-
Fusion ICA Toolbox (FIT)
Provide references using APA citation style.
Contreras-Huerta, L. S. (2020). Effort shapes social cognition and behaviour: A neuro-cognitive framework. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 118, 426-439.
Hu, D. D. (2024). Empathic accuracy in individuals with schizotypal personality traits. Psych Journal, 13(5), 813-823.
Sui, J. (2010). A CCA+ICA based model for multi-task brain imaging data fusion and its application to schizophrenia. Neuroimage, 51(1), 123-134.
Zaki, J. (2014). Empathy: a motivated account. Psychological Bulletin, 140(6), 1608-1647.
No