Summary: This study compared real-world social network size and resting-state functional connectivity of a social brain network in people with schizophrenia and individuals with social anhedonia. Only the schizophrenia group showed smaller real-life social networks. At the neural level, schizophrenia and social anhedonia produced opposite patterns: schizophrenia was associated with reduced segregation and lower functional connectivity within the social brain network, while social anhedonia showed increased segregation and higher connectivity. Both groups showed weaker links between social brain measures and their real-life social networks compared with healthy controls.
Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Background
Schizophrenia is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that commonly impairs social functioning. Prior research has identified brain sub-networks that support social cognitive processes such as understanding others’ intentions and emotions, but the broader organization of the social brain and how it relates to everyday social networks has received less attention. At the same time, people who experience social anhedonia — a reduced capacity to enjoy social interactions — show altered brain connectivity and social difficulties, yet their neural profile may differ from that of clinical schizophrenia.
Understanding the social brain network and its association with real-life social behavior across the schizophrenia spectrum can clarify mechanisms of social dysfunction and point to targets for interventions.
Study design
Researchers led by Dr. Raymond Chan at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, constructed a general social brain network (SBN) using regions of interest derived from NeuroSynth meta-analytic maps. They recruited two independent cohorts to probe the relationship between SBN organization, resting-state functional connectivity, and real-life social network size: one cohort included 30 people diagnosed with schizophrenia and 28 matched healthy controls, and the other comprised 33 individuals with pronounced social anhedonia and 32 matched healthy controls. All participants completed resting-state fMRI and standardized questionnaires measuring the size and characteristics of their everyday social networks.
Key findings
Behaviorally, only the schizophrenia group demonstrated a measurable reduction in real-life social network size compared with their healthy control group; individuals with social anhedonia did not show this deficit. At the neural level, however, the two groups exhibited opposite patterns within the constructed social brain network. Participants with schizophrenia had decreased segregation (weaker modular separation among network components) and generally reduced functional connectivity across the SBN. By contrast, individuals with social anhedonia showed increased segregation and stronger functional connectivity within the same network.
Using sparse canonical correlation analysis to relate brain network measures to social network characteristics, the team found that both clinical and subclinical groups showed a diminished coupling between SBN organization and real-life social network features compared with their respective healthy control groups. In other words, brain–behavior relationships linking social brain connectivity to actual social network size were weaker in both schizophrenia and social anhedonia.
Interpretation and implications
These results indicate distinct neural signatures for social dysfunction across the schizophrenia spectrum. Reduced segregation and connectivity within the social brain network in schizophrenia may reflect a breakdown in integration of social information that contributes to smaller real-world social networks. By contrast, the elevated segregation and connectivity seen in social anhedonia may reflect a different neural adaptation or compensatory process that does not necessarily lead to smaller social networks but still weakens the typical brain–behavior coupling. The shared finding of reduced correspondence between social brain structure and actual social network measures highlights a common pathway by which neural alterations disrupt meaningful social engagement.
Dr. Chan’s team is continuing work to test whether these altered social brain metrics can predict future social functioning and to explore non-pharmacological interventions that target network-level brain function to improve social outcomes in schizophrenia-spectrum conditions.
Funding: This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Programme, the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission Grant, the Beijing Training Project for the Leading Talents in Science & Technology, and the CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health at the Institute of Psychology.
About this schizophrenia research news
Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Contact: ZHANG Nannan – Chinese Academy of Sciences
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Closed access.
“Social brain network correlates with real-life social network in individuals with schizophrenia and social anhedonia” by Raymond Chan et al. Schizophrenia Research
Abstract
Social brain network correlates with real-life social network in individuals with schizophrenia and social anhedonia
Social behavior depends on the brain’s ability to integrate multiple processes that support understanding and interacting with others. The specific neural substrates that underlie general social behavior are not fully understood. Both people with psychosis and individuals with subclinical symptoms exhibit social dysfunction, but the neural mechanisms that drive these difficulties across the schizophrenia spectrum remain unclear.
Using resting-state functional connectivity and regions of interest defined by NeuroSynth meta-analytic maps, the researchers constructed a general social brain network (SBN) and examined its organization and relationship to social network (SN) measures in 30 individuals with schizophrenia (SCZ) and 33 individuals with social anhedonia (SA), each compared to matched healthy control groups.
Findings revealed that SCZ patients had measurable deficits in their real-life social networks and showed decreased segregation and lower functional connectivity in the SBN. SA individuals did not show reduced social network size but demonstrated an opposite neural profile, with increased segregation and higher functional connectivity. Sparse canonical correlation analysis further revealed that both SCZ and SA groups had a weaker association between SBN metrics and real-life SN characteristics than their respective control groups.
These preliminary results suggest abnormalities in network segregation and connectivity within the general social brain network in both schizophrenia and social anhedonia, alongside reduced correspondence between neural network measures and everyday social network characteristics. Such insights may help inform development of non-pharmacological strategies aimed at improving social functioning across the schizophrenia spectrum.