Social Cognition Impairments in 22q11.2DS Individuals With and Without Psychosis: A Comparison Study With a Large Population of Patients With Schizophrenia.
Tommaso Accinni, Antonino Buzzanca, Marianna Frascarelli, Luca Carlone, Francesco Ghezzi, Georgios D Kotzalidis, Paola Bucci, Giulia Maria Giordano, Nicoletta Girardi, Alessia Panzera, Simone Montaldo, Martina Fanella, Carlo Di Bonaventura, Carolina Putotto, Paolo Versacci, Bruno Marino, Massimo Pasquini, Massimo Biondi, Fabio Di Fabio
Author Information
Tommaso Accinni: Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Rome, Italy.
Antonino Buzzanca: Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Rome, Italy.
Marianna Frascarelli: Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Rome, Italy. ORCID
Luca Carlone: Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Rome, Italy.
Francesco Ghezzi: Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Rome, Italy.
Georgios D Kotzalidis: Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Sapienza University, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Rome, Italy.
Paola Bucci: Department of Psychiatry, Campania University "Luigi Vanvitelli," Naples, Italy.
Giulia Maria Giordano: Department of Psychiatry, Campania University "Luigi Vanvitelli," Naples, Italy.
Nicoletta Girardi: Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Rome, Italy.
Alessia Panzera: Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Rome, Italy.
Simone Montaldo: Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Rome, Italy.
Martina Fanella: Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Rome, Italy.
Carlo Di Bonaventura: Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Rome, Italy.
Carolina Putotto: Department of Pediatrics, Sapienza Univerisity of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Paolo Versacci: Department of Pediatrics, Sapienza Univerisity of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Bruno Marino: Department of Pediatrics, Sapienza Univerisity of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Massimo Pasquini: Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Rome, Italy.
Massimo Biondi: Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Rome, Italy.
Fabio Di Fabio: Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Rome, Italy.
Background: 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS) represents one of the most important genetic risk factors for schizophrenia (SCZ) and a reliable biological model to study endophenotypic characters of SCZ. The aim of the study was to investigate Social Cognition impairments in subjects with 22q11.2DS compared to a considerable sample of schizophrenic patients. Methods: Forty-four individuals with 22q11.2DS (DEL) and 18 patients with 22q11.2DS and psychosis (DEL_SCZ) were enrolled; these groups were compared to 887 patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) and 780 healthy controls (HCs); the latter groups were recruited by the Italian Network for Research on Psychoses (NIRP) to which our Centre took part. Social cognition was evaluated through The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT). A resampling procedure was employed to balance differences in samples size. Results: All clinical groups (DEL; DEL_SCZ; and SCZ) showed worse performance on TASIT than HCs, except in scale. No differences between-clinical groups were found, except for and scales. Conclusions: SC was impaired in individuals with 22q11.2DS regardless of psychotic symptomatology, similarly to people with SCZ. Therefore, SC deficits may represent potential endophenotypes of SCZ contributing to the vulnerability to psychosis.
