Neural processes of social interaction in people with genetic and environmental risk factors for schizophrenia

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Interpersonal collaboration, perspective taking (theory of mind) and empathy depends on the social/cultural identification with the interaction partner. Social categorization into ingoup (IG) and outgroup (OG), the resulting appreciation of the IG and the simultaneous devaluation of the OG has the potential for conflict at the societal level and constitutes a potential environmental risk factor (UR) for schizophrenia. Social categorization mediates behaviour during interaction. The neural processes and the interaction of these environmental factors with genetic risk (GR) for schizophrenia has not yet been explored.The influence of environmental (immigration status) and genetic risk factors (relatives of patients with schizophrenia) for schizophrenia on neural mirror neuron and Theory of Mind (ToM) networks will be investigated. Social interactions will be simulated between existing ethnic groups (germans vs. immigrants from Turkey) compared to fictitious groups (classified according to the minimal group paradigm: MGP), with high (GR +) and low genetic risk GR-), respectively. Thus, we intent to manipulate systematically two between-subject factors: genetic risk (GR + / GR-) and ethnicity (UR + / UR-) and two within-subject factors: MGP-manipulation of interaction partners (MGP-IG, MGP-OG) and ethnicity of the interaction partner (ethnicity-IG, ethnicity-OG). The neural correlates of these experimental manipulations are to be detected in the mirror neuron and ToM systems using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).We expect that the specific groups show enhanced empathy and perspective taking if the identification of the interaction partners is high (MPG-IG), he/she belongs to the same ethnic group (ethnicity-IG) and genetic risk is low (GR-). This will be reflected in the behavioural data as well as on neural level in increased activation in regions of the ToM and mirror neuron networks. It is hypothesised that subjects with genetic risk have reduced activation in ToM and mirror neuron networks (GR +