Effects of metacognitive training on the neurophysiological correlates of the jumping-to-conclusions bias in schizophrenia

跳到结论（JTC）偏见，即倾向于根据有限的证据做出决定，在妄想产生的理论中占据中心地位。由于妄想是精神分裂症的核心症状之一，因此JTC偏倚可能是治疗的理想目标。虽然不受多巴胺能拮抗剂的影响，JTC的偏见是服从特定的心理治疗干预，已被证明是有效的治疗妄想症状作为抗精神病药物治疗精神分裂症患者。然而，JTC在精神分裂症中的神经生物学基础迄今为止很少受到关注。一些研究调查了健康受试者的数据收集，并表明它与参与决策和奖励处理的大脑区域不同（或额外）的大脑区域的活动有关。然而，到目前为止，还没有关于精神分裂症患者数据收集障碍的神经生理学相关性的研究。本研究旨在为精神分裂症患者的JTC偏倚和其他方面的数据收集异常提供一个生物学标记。这将通过比较24名未经药物治疗的精神分裂症患者和24名健康对照受试者（性别、年龄和教育程度匹配）在两项不同的评估数据收集任务期间的大脑激活和功能连接模式来实现。此外，在接受元认知训练（MCT）后，患者的大脑激活/连接模式发生了变化，这是一种专门针对推理偏差（如JTC）的干预措施。该研究旨在提供对精神分裂症病理生理学的见解，这将进一步开发该疾病的新治疗方案。

The jumping-to-conclusions (JTC) bias, i.e. the tendency to arrive on decisions based on limited evidence, occupies a central place among theories of delusion generation. Since delusions constitute one of the core symptoms of schizophrenia, the JTC bias might represent an ideal target for treatment. Although not affected by dopaminergic antagonists, the JTC bias is amenable to specific psychotherapeutic interventions, which have been shown to be efficient in treating delusional symptoms as an adjunct to antipsychotic medication treatment in patients with schizophrenia. However, the neurobiological bases of JTC in schizophrenia have received little interest so far. A few studies have investigated data gathering in healthy subjects and have shown it to be associated with activity in brain areas different than (or additional to) those involved in decision making and reward processing. However, so far there have been no studies on the neurophysiological correlates of disturbed data gathering in patients with schizophrenia. The present study aims to provide a biological marker for the JTC bias and other aspects of data gathering abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia. This will be achieved by comparing brain activation and functional connectivity patterns in 24 unmedicated patients with schizophrenia and 24 healthy control subjects (matched in gender, age and education) during two different tasks assessing data gathering. Moreover, changes in brain activation/connectivity patterns in patients following a course of metacognitive training (MCT), an intervention specifically designed to address reasoning biases such as the JTC. The study aims to provide insights into the pathophysiology of schizophrenia that will further the development of new treatment options for the disorder.