Relationship between theta/beta ratio and mind wandering in schizotypy.

Negative association was found between the frontal theta/beta ratio and mind wandering in participants with high schizotypal traits, while no such association was found in participants with low schizotypal traits. These findings provide insights into the neural mechanism of mind wandering in individuals with high schizotypal traits.

Preparation facilitates response inhibition based on a stop-signal task.

This study demonstrated that the higher stop-signal probability condition showed a longer go reaction time and shorter stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) compared with the lower stop-signal probability condition. In addition, preparation cost was correlated with SSRT. These results suggest that preparation facilitates response inhibition.

Mental time travel for self and others in individuals with a high level of schizotypy.

Mental time travel (MTT) is the ability to project oneself to the past or future through mental simulation. Moreover, MTT can involve self-related or other-related information. This study aimed to compare MTT in individuals with high levels of schizotypy and that in their counterparts with low levels of schizotypy. Participants with high (n = 37) and low (n = 37) levels of schizotypy completed an MTT task with four conditions [2 (Condition: self vs. other) × 2 (Time orientation: past vs. future)]. They were required to recall past events that had happened to themselves or to a non-intimate person, and to imagine possible future events that might happen to themselves or to a non-intimate person, related to cue words. Outcome measures included specificity, vividness, sense of experience, emotional valence, emotional intensity, proportion of first-person visual perspective in events, and difficulty in event generation. A 2 (Group: high vs. low levels of schizotypy) × 2 (Condition) × 2 (Time orientation) mixed analysis of variance was conducted on each index. Results showed that self-related MTT was more specific than other-related MTT in low levels of schizotypy participants but not in high levels of schizotypy participants. Participants with a high level of schizotypy reported fewer specific events, and reported events with lower vividness and positive emotion than did those with a low level of schizotypy. Self-related MTT showed higher levels of phenomenological characteristics than did other-related MTT. In conclusion, individuals with a high level of schizotypy have altered MTT, and cannot benefit from the self-advantage effect on the specificity of MTT.

A Meta-analysis of Mental Time Travel in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are associated with cognitive dysfunctions, including mental time travel (MTT). However, findings on diminished MTT ability may be confounded by a number of factors, including the individuals' language ability, factors related to the MTT task and the demographic factors of participants. The present study provided a meta-analysis of MTT ability in people with ASD. The results showed significant overall reductions in MTT ability in people with ASD. Moderator analyses revealed that the variables examined did not explain the reduction in MTT ability. These findings suggest that MTT ability is diminished in people with ASD and that the degree of this diminishment may not depend on the characteristics of measures or demographic variables of people with ASD.

Proactive and reactive response inhibition of individuals with high schizotypy viewing different facial expressions: An ERP study using an emotional stop-signal task.

The present study aimed to examine whether impairments in reactive (outright stopping) and proactive (preparation for stopping) response inhibition are affected by negative emotions in individuals with high schizotypy, a subclinical group at risk for schizophrenia, as well as the neural mechanisms underlying these processes. Twenty-seven participants with high schizotypy and 28 matched low-schizotypy individuals completed an emotional stop-signal task in which they responded to facial emotions (neutral or angry) or inhibited their responses (when the frame of the picture turned red). Electroencephalogram (EEG) data were also recorded during the task. At the neural level, analysis of go trials revealed that viewing angry faces impaired proactive inhibition. In addition, the high-schizotypy group exhibited a greater P3 amplitude in go trials in the neutral condition than the low-schizotypy group; however, no group difference was found in the angry condition. For stop trials (reactive inhibition), a smaller P3 amplitude was found in the angry condition than in the neutral condition. Moreover, high-schizotypy individuals showed smaller P3 amplitudes than low-schizotypy individuals. The current findings suggest that, at the neural level, viewing negative emotions impaired both proactive and reactive response inhibition. Individuals with high schizotypy exhibited impairments in proactive response inhibition in the neutral condition but not in the angry condition; they exhibited impaired reactive response inhibition in both emotion conditions. The present findings deepen our understanding of emotional response inhibition in individuals on the schizophrenia spectrum.

Proactive and reactive cognitive control for emotional conflict in individuals with high schizotypy: An ERP study.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to examine how individuals with high schizotypy, a high risk group of schizophrenia patients, resolve emotional conflict in proactive and reactive control and the underlying neural mechanisms. METHODS: Thirty-two individuals with high schizotypy and 30 matched individuals with low schizotypy completed an emotional face-word Stroop task with electroencephalographic data recorded. The proportion of incongruent trials was manipulated in the task to induce proactive control (mostly incongruent trials context, MI context) or reactive control (mostly congruent trials context, MC context). Two event-related potential (ERP) components (N170 and N2) were examined, which represent face processing and cognitive control processes, respectively. RESULTS: In the MC context, significantly decreased N2 and N170 amplitudes were found in high schizotypy individuals compared with low schizotypy individuals, suggesting abnormal neural activity of reactive control in high schizotypy individuals. No significant differences were found between the two groups in the MI context. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide initial evidence for dissociation of neural activity of proactive and reactive control on emotional conflict in individuals with high schizotypy. SIGNIFICANCE: The current findings provide important insight into the emotional conflict resolution in the schizophrenia spectrum.

The relationship between schizotypal traits and satisfaction with life among Chinese young adults: The mediating effect of trait anxiety and mind wandering.

Schizotypal traits have been found to be negatively associated with satisfaction with life but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. This study investigated the association between schizotypal traits and satisfaction with life and explored the mediating role of trait anxiety and mind wandering in the relationship between those two variables in a sample of Chinese young adults. One hundred and two individuals with high schizotypal traits and 104 individuals with low schizotypal traits were screened using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. They completed a series of questionnaires including the Satisfaction with Life Scale, Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Mind Wandering Questionnaire. Results showed that: First, the high schizotypal trait group showed lower satisfaction with life, and higher trait anxiety and mind wandering frequency than the low schizotypal trait group. Second, the high schizotypal trait group, trait anxiety, and mind wandering negatively predicted satisfaction with life. Third, mediation analyses showed that all indirect effect paths in the mediation model were significant, that is, trait anxiety and mind wandering alone and together mediated the relationship between schizotypal trait group and satisfaction with life. In conclusion, high schizotypal trait is a risk factor for low satisfaction with life. The association between schizotypal traits and satisfaction with life was mediated by the combination of trait anxiety and mind wandering. This study has implications for improving life satisfaction in individuals with high schizotypal traits.

Improving older adults' ability to follow instructions: benefits of actions at encoding and retrieval in working memory.

The ability to follow instructions is critical for learning new skills and may support successful aging. Recent evidence indicates a close link between following instructions and working memory, and that action-based processing at encoding and retrieval can improve this ability. In this study, we examined the ability to follow instructions and the benefits of action-based processing in young and older adults. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with spoken or silent demonstrated instructions, then recalled them by oral repetition or physical enactment. Older adults produced fewer correct responses in all conditions. Both age groups were better at recalling demonstrated than spoken instructions in the verbal but not the enacted recall condition. Older adults also benefited from enacted recall relative to verbal recall, but to a smaller extent than younger adults. In Experiment 2, the additional benefit of dual modalities (spoken instructions with simultaneous demonstration) relative to single modality presentation (spoken instructions, or silent demonstration) was examined. Both age groups showed superior performance in dual modality conditions relative to spoken instructions when using verbal recall. These findings suggest that although following instruction ability appears to decline with age, older adults can still benefit from action at encoding and retrieval.

A meta-analysis of the effects of episodic future thinking on delay discounting.

Delay discounting (DD) refers to the phenomenon in which the subjective value of future rewards is reduced over time. There are individual differences in the DD rate, and increased discounting has been observed in those with various psychiatric disorders. Episodic future thinking (EFT) is the act of vividly imagining events that may happen in the future. Studies have shown that EFT could reduce DD, although inconsistent results have been reported. The aim of this meta-analysis was to clarify the efficacy with which EFT reduces DD and to identify potential moderators. Forty-seven studies (including 63 contrasts) were included in the final analysis. EFT was found to significantly reduce DD (Hedges' g = 0.52). Moderator analysis showed that positive EFT (g = 0.64) was more effective in reducing DD than EFT with the valence not specifically mentioned (g = 0.28) and EFT with neutral or negative valence (g = -0.03). In addition, several factors related to the control task and DD task were related to the efficacy of EFT to reduce DD. These findings have implications for using EFT to reduce DD in the future.

An ERP study on proactive and reactive response inhibition in individuals with schizotypy.

Schizotypy, a subclinical group at risk for schizophrenia, has been found to show impairments in response inhibition. However, it remains unclear whether this impairment is accompanied by outright stopping (reactive inhibition) or preparation for stopping (proactive inhibition). We recruited 20 schizotypy and 24 non-schizotypy individuals to perform a modified stop-signal task with electroencephalographic (EEG) data recorded. This task consists of three conditions based on the probability of stop signal: 0% (no stop trials, only go trials), 17% (17% stop trials), and 33% (33% stop trials), the conditions were indicated by the colour of go stimuli. For proactive inhibition (go trials), individuals with schizotypy exhibited significantly lesser increase in go response time (RT) as the stop signal probability increasing compared to non-schizotypy individuals. Individuals with schizotypy also exhibited significantly increased N1 amplitude on all levels of stop signal probability and increased P3 amplitude in the 17% stop condition compared with non-schizotypy individuals. For reactive inhibition (stop trials), individuals with schizotypy exhibited significantly longer stop signal reaction time (SSRT) in both 17% and 33% stop conditions and smaller N2 amplitude on stop trials in the 17% stop condition than non-schizotypy individuals. These findings suggest that individuals with schizotypy were impaired in both proactive and reactive response inhibition at behavioural and neural levels.

Schizophrenia patients with poor clinical insight report less subjective memory problems.

This study aimed to explore the relationships among clinical insight, subjective memory complaints, and objective memory performance in patients with schizophrenia. We recruited 205 patients with schizophrenia and 221 healthy controls in this study. The participants were administered a subjective-report scale on memory (the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire), and several objective memory tasks measuring verbal memory, visual memory, and working memory. Clinical insight was measured with an item in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. We found that when patients with schizophrenia were divided into subgroups with good and poor insight, both subgroups showed impairment in memory performance compared with controls. The schizophrenia patients with good insight reported similar memory complaints as controls whereas patients with poor insight reported less memory complaints than did the controls. These findings suggest that clinical insight may be related to subjective memory complaints, but not objective memory performance.

Dissociation of Proactive and Reactive Cognitive Control in Individuals with Schizotypy: An Event-Related Potential Study.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with schizophrenia and individuals with schizotypy, a subclinical group at risk for schizophrenia, have been found to have impairments in cognitive control. The Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control (DMC) framework hypothesises that cognitive control can be divided into proactive and reactive control. However, it is unclear whether individuals with schizotypy have differential behavioural impairments and neural correlates underlying these two types of cognitive control. METHOD: Twenty-five individuals with schizotypy and 26 matched healthy controls (HCs) completed both reactive and proactive control tasks with electroencephalographic data recorded. The proportion of congruent and incongruent trials was manipulated in a classic colour-word Stroop task to induce proactive or reactive control. Proactive control was induced in a context with mostly incongruent (MI) trials and reactive control in a context with mostly congruent (MC) trials. Two event-related potential (ERP) components, medial frontal negativity (MFN, associated with conflict detection) and conflict sustained potential (conflict SP, associated with conflict resolution) were examined. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of behavioural results. In terms of ERP results, in the MC context, HC exhibited significantly larger MFN (360-530 ms) and conflict SP (600-1000 ms) amplitudes than individuals with schizotypy. The two groups did not show any significant difference in MFN or conflict SP in the MI context. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings provide initial evidence for dissociation of neural activation between proactive and reactive cognitive control in individuals with schizotypy. These findings help us understand cognitive control deficits in the schizophrenia spectrum.

Involuntary mental time travel in individuals with schizotypal personality features.

Involuntary mental time travel (MTT) refers to the phenomenon of mentally reliving past experiences or pre-living possible future events in an involuntary form. Few studies have explored involuntary MTT in individuals with schizotypal personality features. The present study aimed to first explore the psychometric properties of the Involuntary Autobiographic Memory Inventory (IAMI) in a Chinese sample (Study 1), and then to explore whether individuals with schizotypal personality features experience involuntary MTT more frequently than individuals without schizotypal features. Moreover, the study explored whether the aberrant frequency of involuntary MTT is correlated with positive schizotypal features (Study 2). The results showed that the IAMI had good structural validity and reliability in a Chinese sample. Individuals with schizotypal traits reported a significantly higher frequency, less positive emotion, and stronger emotional intensity for both involuntary memories and future thoughts compared with individuals without schizotypal features. Further analyses in individuals with schizotypal personality features showed that the frequencies of both involuntary memories and future thoughts were significantly correlated with positive schizotypal traits. These results have potential theoretical and clinical implications for a comprehensive understanding of involuntary MTT among individuals with schizotypal personality features.

Forward and backward recall of serial actions: Exploring the temporal dynamics of working memory for instruction.

The ability to flexibly retrieve and implement sequences of actions is essential to motor learning and planning. Recent research has indicated that serial memory for instructions is influenced by presentation modality (spoken vs. visual demonstration) and recall modality (verbal vs. enacted recall). The present study extended this work by investigating the impact of recall direction (forward vs. backward), in addition to that of presentation and recall modality, on working memory for instruction sequences in healthy young adults. Experiment 1 (N = 24) showed that adults were more accurate in backward than forward verbal recall following spoken instructions. In contrast, enacted recall was not influenced by recall direction. Experiment 2 (N = 24) used visual demonstration of instruction sequences and found similar performance levels in forward and backward recall. Experiment 3 (N = 24) replicated the findings from Experiment 1 and 2, along with the previous observation of an advantage for demonstrated over spoken presentation. In addition, the beneficial effects of enacted recall and visual demonstration also emerged in an analysis of response times, specifically in reduced preparation and recall duration. Demonstrated instructions improved maintenance of all items while backward recall enhanced memory of later items in the sequence. These findings provide new insights into the cognitive processes and temporal dynamics of working memory for serial actions and instructions.