Social Cognition

Narcolepsy is a chronic disabling neurologic disorder mainly characterised by excessive daytime sleepiness. Type 1 narcolepsy is associated with a deficit of hypocretin in the cerebrospinal fluid responsible for the cataplexy symptom while type 2 shows a normal hypocretin level and no cataplexy. While the development of narcolepsy is independent of parental social level, narcolepsy has a significant influence on educational level, grading, social outcome, and welfare consequences. Several studies assessed global cognition efficiency, mood, and attention in narcoleptic patients but only a few specifically measured social cognition and mostly without a control group. In a population of narcoleptics children, a severe impairment in social cognition is described for 20% of the group, contrary to 2 % for the control group. The literature also depicts some impairments in decision making, somatic and cognitive emotions responses but the emotion recognition seems to be preserved. A better understanding of the social and cognitive aspects of narcolepsy could lead to a better treatment of the disease in its entirety, including if relevant specific cognitive behavioural therapy. The protocol consists in a psychometric evaluation including several questionnaires in order to assess social cognition. It will be proposed to patients with type 1 or type 2 narcolepsy and patients with idiopathic hypersomnia.

This study aims to explore whether the observation of complex visual objects can help improve social cognition in people living with psychotic disorders. Social cognition refers to the ability to understand what others think, feel, or intend, and plays a key role in social relationships and daily interactions. Main questions this study aims to answer: * Does dyadic exposure to complex visual objects improve mental state attribution, as measured by the Faux Pas Test? * Does the intervention enhance related domains of social cognition, including implicit intention inference (Hinting Task), interpretation of complex interactions (Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition, MASC), and reduction of hostile attribution biases (Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire, AIHQ)? * Are improvements maintained after one month, and do patients who receive the intervention later (waitlist group) show the same benefits once exposed?

Social cognition refers to the mental processes involved in social interactions, including social perception, motivation, communication, emotion recognition, and theory of mind. Face perception plays a key role in children's social development, but children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) tend to look less at social stimuli, especially faces, than typically developing (TD) peers. Eye-tracking studies highlight these visual exploration differences, linked to difficulties in joint attention, emotion recognition, and theory of mind, as well as in executive and memory functions. Standard diagnostic tests often require active participation and sufficient language, which makes assessment challenging for children with ASD and additional cognitive or language impairments. This research project investigates how visual activity supports social cognition depending on cognitive and language levels, hypothesizing that eye-tracking can provide useful indicators for ASD screening and diagnosis.

This study explores the effects of single-dose losartan (50mg) versus placebo on social processing in healthy volunteers.

Most studies use static visual percepts that are less representative of joint attention versus an ecological environment. This has the consequence of decreasing the perception of an interaction with a social partner, which is an essential step in achieving joint attention. The originality of this study is to improve the design of visual percepts (in the form of video) in order to mimic an ecological environment as much as possible by using MRI-ET coupling. The second originality of this study is the longitudinal exploration of the neurodevelopment of social cognition in autistic children. Studies by the Redcay and Oberwelland teams observe different activations at different ages. The hypothesis is that the perception of joint attention varies over time in people with ASD. To date, there are no studies to determine the influence of childhood neurodevelopment in autistic people on the perception of joint attention. It would be unprecedented to use the MRI-ET pairing as a tool for assessing social cognition as a function of the development of children with ASD.

The primary aim of this observational study is to investigate specific aspects of social cognition in dystrophinopathies. Body awareness, interpersonal distance and emotional processing will be measured in a sample of patients affected by Becker (BMD) and Duchenne (DMD) muscular dystrophy, compared with a sample of patients affected by osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), and both compared with a control sample with typical development. The secondary aim is to study cortical activity at rest, by means of electroencephalography (EEG), to explore frequencies and time course of EEG responses. Moreover, the relationship between EEG activity and neuropsychological, dispositional and subjective measures will be explored through correlational analyses.

Turner syndrome (TS) is a rare chromosomal disorder characterized by partial or complete loss of one of the X chromosomes that affects about one in every 2000 female babies born. These young patients described difficulties making friends, understanding others' emotions and intentions, and controlling their own emotions. Difficulties in these domains could led to social withdrawal, to reduced social skills and could have a significant impact on self esteem and mental health as well as on long-term academic and social functioning in affected individuals. The purpose of this project is to identify functional and dysfunctional cognitive and socio-cognitive abilities in these young patients which could account social difficulties described by some of them and their family. To this end, 35 girls with TS and 35 girls with isolated growth hormone deficiency and normal cerebral MRI will be recruited. Subjects will be 7 to 16 years and 11 months of age. Socio-cognitive and cognitive functions will be assessed with neuropsychological and experimental tasks. Questionnaires completed by patient, parents or teacher, will evaluate social and behavioral functioning.