Enhanced Automatic Action Imitation and Intact Imitation-Inhibition in Schizophrenia
Open accessAbstract
Imitation plays a key role in social learning and in facilitating social interactions and likely constitutes a basic building block of social cognition that supports higher-level social abilities. Recent findings suggest that patients with schizophrenia have imitation impairments that could contribute to the social impairments associated with the disorder. However, extant studies have specifically assessed voluntary imitation or automatic imitation of emotional stimuli without controlling for potential confounders. The imitation impairments seen might therefore be secondary to other cognitive, motoric, or emotional deficits associated with the disorder. To overcome this issue, we used an automatic imitation paradigm with nonemotional stimuli to assess automatic imitation and the top-down modulation of imitation where participants were required to lift one of 2 fingers according to a number shown on the screen while observing the same or the other finger movement. In addition, we used a control task with a visual cue in place of a moving finger, to isolate the effect of observing finger movement from other visual cueing effects. Data from 33 patients (31 medicated) and 40 matched healthy controls were analyzed. Patients displayed enhanced imitation and intact top-down modulation of imitation. The enhanced imitation seen in patients may have been medication induced as larger effects were seen in patients receiving higher antipsychotic doses. In sum, we did not find an imitation impairment in schizophrenia. The results suggest that previous findings of impaired imitation in schizophrenia might have been due to other cognitive, motoric, and/or emotional deficits.
AI snapshot
Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
In an automatic imitation task with nonemotional hand stimuli, patients with schizophrenia showed enhanced automatic imitation and intact imitation-inhibition relative to matched healthy controls. The enhanced imitation was associated with higher antipsychotic medication dose, suggesting it may be medication-induced rather than a primary imitation deficit.
Key findings
- Patients made more errors than controls (8.79% vs 5.27%) and had slower overall reaction times (592 ms vs 534.91 ms per trial; β = 0.37, SE = 0.14, t = 2.73, P = .01).
- Patients showed enhanced automatic imitation: a significant task × group interaction on congruent trials (β = −0.11, SE = 0.05, t = −2.32, P = .021), with patients showing a larger RT difference between imitation and control trials than controls.
- Imitation-inhibition was intact: no significant task × group interaction on incongruent trials (β = −0.07, SE = 0.05, t = −1.29, P = .195; BF = 0.07).
- Higher antipsychotic dose was associated with a larger imitation effect on congruent trials (task × CPZ: β = −0.13, SE = 0.05, t = −2.47, P = .015), with no significant dose effect on incongruent trials (BF = 0.22).
Methods
- Case-control study using a modified automatic imitation and effector priming control task with nonemotional hand videos; 2 × 2 design (task: imitation/control; congruency: congruent/incongruent), 120 trials total, 30 per condition. Participants lifted index or middle finger according to a number while observing same/other finger movement or a mask control.
- Data from 33 patients with ICD-10 schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 40 matched healthy controls were analyzed; 31 of 33 patients were medicated. Diagnosis was confirmed with SCAN; antipsychotic doses were converted to chlorpromazine equivalents.
- Reaction times under 150 ms and over 2000 ms were excluded, as were error trials. Mixed effects regression models tested group × task and medication dose × task effects, with random intercepts for matched pairs and random slopes for group, task, and finger; Bayes factors assessed null results.
Limitations
- The paper states that 31 of 33 patients were medicated, so it is unclear whether unmedicated patients would show similar behavior to controls.
- The paper states that patients were not randomized to different antipsychotic types or doses, so unmeasured individual differences accompanying medication dose cannot be excluded.
- Evident from the text: six patients were excluded because hand tremor prevented stable task performance, which may limit generalizability to more motorically impaired patients.
Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
26 of 43 cited sources checked · 18 supported · 1 flagged · accuracy not yet measured
- Premisereasoning
Earlier studies failed to account for general cognitive, motor, or emotional impairments linked to schizophrenia.
“However, previous studies assessed either voluntary imitation [7][8][9][10][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] or automatic imitation of emotional stimuli 12,13,32,33 while not controlling for the cognitive, motoric, and/or emotional deficits associated with the disorder.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim3 of 5 sources checked- cites [7][8][9][10][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- cites [12] Haker, 2009, Empathy in schizophrenia: impaired resonance, Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci source
The Contagion section describes a study of automatic yawning and laughing responses, and Group differences in contagion acknowledges that illness-related psychomotor constraints could help explain the findings. But the paper did assess executive function and use stimulus-incongruent responses to examine overall psychomotor activity, so it does not support the blanket claim that it failed to account for cognitive and motor impairments. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured - cites [13] Thakkar, 2014, Altered brain activation during action imitation and observation in schizophrenia: a translational approach to investigating social dysfunction in schizophrenia, Am J Psychiatry source
The paper’s Discussion (page not available in our copy) says its groups were matched on IQ and made the same number of movements, addressing gross cognitive differences and motor output. Its Method also compares imitation with nonimitative action. Thus, the claim that this study failed to control for those deficits conflicts with the source; the task did not use emotional stimuli. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured - cites [32] Schaefer, 2013, The global cognitive impairment in schizophrenia: consistent over decades and around the world, Schizophr Res source
The Introduction and Discussion report generalized cognitive impairment in schizophrenia, supporting the cognitive-deficit premise. They do not assess whether earlier imitation studies controlled for cognitive, motoric, or emotional deficits; searches for imitation and those potential confounds did not establish that methodological claim. No page numbers were supplied for the indexed passages. (LLM, conf=0.82)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured - cites [33] Gilbert, 2008, Executive function, Curr Biol source
- Premisecitation
Across prior studies, patients have repeatedly made more imitation errors than healthy people for facial and manual actions and for facial expressions.
“This research has consistently shown that patients make more errors when asked to imitate facial and manual movements [8][9][10][25][26][27][28] and facial expressions 7,10,26,[29][30][31] compared to healthy individuals.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim2 of 3 sources checked- cites [8] Walther, 2013, Impaired gesture performance in schizophrenia: particular vulnerability of meaningless pantomimes, Neuropsychologia source
- cites [9] Matthews, 2013, Gesture imitation in schizophrenia, Schizophr Bull source
- cites [10] Park, 2008, Imitation, simulation, and schizophrenia, Schizophr Bull source
- Premisecitation
Earlier work on imitation in schizophrenia used either voluntary imitation tasks or automatic imitation of emotional stimuli.
“However, previous studies assessed either voluntary imitation [7][8][9][10][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] or automatic imitation of emotional stimuli 12,13,32,33 while not controlling for the cognitive, motoric, and/or emotional deficits associated with the disorder.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim3 of 5 sources checked- cites [7][8][9][10][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- cites [12] Haker, 2009, Empathy in schizophrenia: impaired resonance, Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci source
The Contagion section describes an automatic response to videos of laughing and yawning faces, supporting this paper as an example of earlier work on automatic imitation. But the sentence’s added claim that such studies did not control for associated deficits is too broad for this source: the Group differences in contagion section examines executive functioning, medication, and stimulus-incongruent responses as an indicator of psychomotor activity. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured - cites [13] Thakkar, 2014, Altered brain activation during action imitation and observation in schizophrenia: a translational approach to investigating social dysfunction in schizophrenia, Am J Psychiatry source
The Method > Experimental Paradigm describes instructed finger movements, supporting this paper as an example of voluntary imitation. But Method > Data Analysis compares imitative with nonimitative actions, and Results checks movement completion and timing; the claim that this study did not control for motoric deficits is therefore not supported. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured - cites [32] Schaefer, 2013, The global cognitive impairment in schizophrenia: consistent over decades and around the world, Schizophr Res source
The Methods section describes a review of cognition and neuropsychology in schizophrenia, not imitation studies. Searches for voluntary imitation, automatic imitation, emotional stimuli, and controls for motoric or emotional deficits found no passage addressing the attributed claim. (LLM, conf=0.75)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured - cites [33] Gilbert, 2008, Executive function, Curr Biol source
- Study design and conductreasoning
A control task was included so that imitation and imitation-inhibition could be distinguished from attentional or distractor-inhibition problems and from motor deficits.
“We therefore included a control task 52 to be able to delineate imitation and imitation-inhibition from any attentional deficits or deficits in distractor-inhibition (for detailed task description, see Methods).This also allowed us to control for any motor deficits.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked- cites [52] Cook, 2011, Social attitudes differentially modulate imitation in adolescents and adults, Exp Brain Res source
- Premisecitation
Neuroimaging and TMS studies of the mirror neuron system in schizophrenia during action observation and execution disagree, reporting intact, reduced, altered, or increased activity.
“Some imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies find intact activity [14][15][16][17] in the mirror neuron system (MNS)-which is thought to form the neural basis of imitation [18][19][20][21] -during action observation and execution; while others find this activity to be reduced, 22,23 altered, 13 or enhanced.14,24”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim3 of 3 sources checked- cites [14] McCormick, 2012, Mirror neuron function, psychosis, and empathy in schizophrenia, Psychiatry Res source
- cites [15] Horan, 2014, Some markers of mirroring appear intact in schizophrenia: evidence from mu suppression, Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci source
The Abstract and Conclusions report generally intact MNS-related activity in schizophrenia during action observation and execution, measured by EEG mu suppression. The Introduction describes mixed findings from other EEG studies, and the Conclusions report diminished activity in MEG/TMS studies and abnormalities in fMRI studies. The paper supports the broader point that findings differ, but its own intact finding comes from EEG, not imaging or TMS, and it does not establish every listed outcome for those methods. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured - cites [16] Horan, 2014, Self-reported empathy and neural activity during action imitation and observation in schizophrenia, Neuroimage Clin source
- Interpretationcitation
The dose-imitation link agrees with earlier reports of greater mirror neuron system activity at higher antipsychotic doses or during antipsychotic treatment.
“The association between higher antipsychotic medication dose and increased imitation tendency is consistent with findings of increased MNS activity when receiving higher doses of antipsychotic medication 13 or when being on antipsychotic medication (compared to off).22”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim2 of 2 sources checked- cites [13] Thakkar, 2014, Altered brain activation during action imitation and observation in schizophrenia: a translational approach to investigating social dysfunction in schizophrenia, Am J Psychiatry source
- cites [22] Mehta, 2014, Reduced mirror neuron activity in schizophrenia and its association with theory of mind deficits: evidence from a transcranial magnetic stimulation study, Schizophr Bull source
- Findingown data
Patients with schizophrenia showed a larger automatic imitation effect than healthy controls, indexed by a greater RT difference between congruent imitation and control trials.
“Patients displayed enhanced imitation and intact top-down modulation of imitation.”
- Also stated in: § Imitation Effect: Movement Facilitation Due To Imitation vs a Control Cue · plain
“Specifically, patients showed an even larger difference in RTs between imitation and control trials than the healthy controls, see figure 2a.”
- Also stated in: § Imitation Effect: Movement Facilitation Due To Imitation vs a Control Cue · plain
“In addition, there was a significant interaction between task and group on RT (see table 2: congruent trials).”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Also stated in: § Imitation Effect: Movement Facilitation Due To Imitation vs a Control Cue · plain
- Findingown data
Healthy controls responded faster on congruent imitation trials than on congruent control trials.
“Controls responded significantly faster to imitation trials compared to control trials.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Among patients, slower mean RT on congruent control trials was associated with a larger difference between imitation and control trials.
“For the patients, there was a significant interaction, where the slower the RT, the larger the difference between imitation trials and control trials (β = -0.25,SE = 0.08, t = -3.22,P = .002;supplemen- tary table 6S).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
Patients made more errors overall than controls.
“As predicted, patients made more errors than controls (patients: 8.79%, M = 10.55,SD = 7.47; controls: 5.27%, M = 6.33,SD = 6.44).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
Patients made more premature responses (RTs shorter than 150 ms) than controls.
“RTs shorter than 150 ms (β = 0.98, SE = 0.23, z = 4.34, P < .001)”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Among controls, there was no association between mean RT on congruent control trials and the imitation-versus-control difference.
“In contrast, there was no such relationship in the controls (β = 0.07, SE = 0.10, t = 0.65, P = .518, BF = 0.07; supplementary table 7S).”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Patients made more wrong-finger errors than controls.
“This was the case for all 3 types of errors: wrong finger lifted (β = 0.61, SE = 0.16, z = 3.74, P < .001)”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Patients made more late responses (RTs longer than 2000 ms) than controls.
“and RTs longer than 2000 ms (β = 0.29, SE = 0.13, z = 2.27, P = .023).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
Patients had slower reaction times across conditions than controls.
“Patients also displayed slower RTs across conditions compared to controls (patients: M = 592 ms/trial, SD = 114.97;controls: M = 534.91ms, SD = 62.66; β = 0.37, SE = 0.14, t = 2.73, P = .01).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
For incongruent trials, medication dose did not significantly interact with task.
“When analyzing the incongruent trials (question 4), there was no significant interaction between medication dose and task (BF = 0.22, see table 3: incongruent”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
Patients with schizophrenia did not show reduced imitation compared to healthy controls, including when controlling for confounders.
“The fact that we did not observe reduced imitation in schizophrenia stands in marked contrast to previous reports of imitation impairments in this patient group.”
- Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
“Indeed, when controlling for these confounders, patients with schizophrenia do not display the reduced imitation suggested by previous studies.”
- Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
“In conclusion, we did not find reduced imitation in schizophrenia.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
- Findingown data
The interaction between task and medication dose survived sensitivity analyses that removed four patients with recent medication changes and controlled for other drugs, symptom severity, and functioning.
“The interaction between task and medication dose remained significant when excluding the 4 patients, who had changes made in their antipsychotic medication within the last 3 weeks prior to testing and adjusting for other types of medication (supplementary table S8), for symptom severity (supplementary table S9), or for level of functioning (supplementary table S10).”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Patients with schizophrenia were generally slower than matched healthy controls.
“We found that patients with schizophrenia, although generally slower, displayed enhanced automatic imitation and intact imitation-inhibition compared to matched healthy individuals.”
- Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
“First, patients generally had slower RTs.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
- Findingown data
The dose-related imitation effect was not attributable to generally slower responses at higher doses, because control-trial reaction time was not significantly related to medication dose.
“there was no significant association between RT on congruent control trials and medication dose (β = 0.17, SE = 0.14, t = 1.2, P = .24,BF = 0.46).”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
The study found no evidence of impaired imitation in schizophrenia.
“In sum, we did not find an imitation impairment in schizophrenia.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
In patients, higher antipsychotic medication dose was associated with a larger imitation effect (faster RTs on congruent imitation vs control trials).
“We observed a significant interaction between task and medication dose on RTs.”
- Also stated in: § Imitation Tendency, Antipsychotic Medication Dose, and Level of Functioning · plain
“Specifically, patients receiving a higher dose showed faster RTs during imitation vs control trials (see table 3: congruent trials).”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Also stated in: § Imitation Tendency, Antipsychotic Medication Dose, and Level of Functioning · plain
- Findingown data
Patients with schizophrenia showed intact imitation-inhibition relative to matched healthy controls.
“We found that patients with schizophrenia, although generally slower, displayed enhanced automatic imitation and intact imitation-inhibition compared to matched healthy individuals.”
- Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
“Rather, patients displayed enhanced imitation and intact imitation-inhibition.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
- Findingown data
In patients, higher level of functioning was associated with faster RTs during imitation versus control trials.
“there was an interaction between level of function- ing and task in this last model, ie, the higher the level of functioning, the faster RTs during imitation vs control trials (β = -0.14, SE = 0.06, t = -2.18, P = .032; supple- mentary table S10 and supplementary figure S1).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
On incongruent trials, medication dose and task did not interact significantly.
“the incongruent trials (question 4), there was no significant interaction between medication dose and task (BF = 0.22, see table 3: incongruent trials).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Findingown data
Healthy controls showed comparable reaction times when inhibiting imitation and when responding to a distractor cue.
“Controls had similar RTs during inhibition of imitation and distractor cue (BF < 0.001)”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Patients with schizophrenia displayed enhanced automatic imitation compared to matched healthy controls.
“We found that patients with schizophrenia, although generally slower, displayed enhanced automatic imitation and intact imitation-inhibition compared to matched healthy individuals.”
- Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
“Rather, patients displayed enhanced imitation and intact imitation-inhibition.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Also stated in: § Discussion · plain
- Findingown data
For incongruent trials, the task effect did not differ significantly between groups.
“there was no significant interaction between task and group (BF = 0.07, table 2: incongruent trials)”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Among patients, greater antipsychotic dose correlated with a stronger imitation effect, after adjustment for possible confounders including symptom severity.
“Second, there was an association between higher antipsychotic dose and a larger imitation effect even when controlling for potential confounders such as symptom severity.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Patients who responded more slowly also tended to show stronger imitation effects.
“The association between longer RTs and larger imitation effect in the patient group supports this hypothesis.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Findingown data
Patients with a stronger inclination to imitate also tended to have better functioning.
“Third, the larger the patient's tendency to imitate, the higher the level of functioning was seen.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Interpretationown data
Earlier reports of imitation deficits in schizophrenia could have reflected other cognitive, motor, or emotional problems.
“The results suggest that previous findings of impaired imitation in schizophrenia might have been due to other cognitive, motoric, and/or emotional deficits.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Premisecitation
Automatic processes generally place fewer demands on those cognitive functions.
“Automatic processes, on the other hand, are generally much less taxing on such cognitive processes.33”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked- cites [33] Gilbert, 2008, Executive function, Curr Biol source
- Premisenone given
Before this study, no experiment had examined automatic imitation of nonemotional stimuli in schizophrenia patients.
“Automatic imitation of nonemotional stimuli has not been studied experimentally in patients with schizophrenia and would overcome the limitations mentioned above.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Interpretationown data
The enhanced imitation observed in patients may have been induced by antipsychotic medication.
“The enhanced imitation seen in patients may have been medication induced as larger effects were seen in patients receiving higher antipsychotic doses.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim- Rests on an assumption: Antipsychotic medication dose is a valid proxy for medication-induced effects on automatic imitation, such that the observed dose association reflects a causal medication effect.
- Interpretationreasoning
Whether the imitation impairments reported earlier were primary or instead secondary to general deficits cannot be established.
“Thus, it is not possible to assess whether the imitation deficits seen in previous studies were primary or secondary to the aforementioned general deficits.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Study design and conductown data
Most patients (31 of 33) were medicated.
“First, 31 out of 33 patients were medicated.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Study design and conductreasoning
Because medication type and dose were not randomly assigned, the possibility remains that unmeasured individual differences linked to dose influenced the results.
“Second, as patients were not randomized to different types or doses of antipsychotic medication, we cannot exclude that unmeasured individual differences accompanying medication dose contributed to the observed effects.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Study design and conductreasoning
The nonemotional imitation task together with a control task enabled the authors to isolate imitation-specific effects from general cognitive or motor effects.
“By using an imitation task with nonemotional stimuli and a control task, we were able to delineate imitation-based effects from nonspecific cognitive or motoric effects.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Interpretationreasoning
The earlier reports of imitation impairment in schizophrenia might have been downstream of other cognitive, motor, or emotional problems.
“The results suggest that previous findings of impaired imitation in schizophrenia may have been secondary to other cognitive, motoric, and/or emotional deficits and that schizophrenia should not be conceptualized as a disorder of imitation.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Interpretationown data
Schizophrenia ought not to be viewed primarily as an imitation disorder.
“The results suggest that previous findings of impaired imitation in schizophrenia may have been secondary to other cognitive, motoric, and/or emotional deficits and that schizophrenia should not be conceptualized as a disorder of imitation.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Interpretationown data
This link implies that being more open to social influence may benefit patients.
“This is opposite to what would be expected if the increased imitation indeed reflected a deficit and rather suggests that increased susceptibility to social influence is an advantage for the patients.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim - Interpretationown data
The stronger imitation in patients might result from medication rather than from schizophrenia itself.
“This suggests that the enhanced imitation seen may be medication induced rather than a consequence of the disorder.”
- Also stated in: § Discussion · hedged
“The enhanced imitation may have been medication induced.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim - Also stated in: § Discussion · hedged
- Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 10
- May combine two claims. 7
Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.
PremisecitationBecause people with schizophrenia have varied emotion-processing difficulties, it is uncertain whether impaired imitation of emotional stimuli reflects imitation itself or other emotional processes.
“Third, because patients display a variety of problems in processing of emotions, 46 it is unclear whether a deficit in voluntary or automatic imitation of emotional stimuli 11,12,47,48 would reflect a specific impairment in imitation, or other aspects of emotion processing”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim2 of 3 sources checked- cites [46] Tremeau, 2006, A review of emotion deficits in schizophrenia, Dialogues Clin Neurosci source
- cites [11] Varcin, 2010, Empathic deficits in schizophrenia: the potential role of rapid facial mimicry, J Int Neuropsychol Soc source
- cites [12] Haker, 2009, Empathy in schizophrenia: impaired resonance, Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci source
Classified as probably not a substantial claim.
PremisecitationThe mechanisms that inhibit imitation are considered at least partly separate from general inhibitory control.
“Imitation-inhibition and general inhibition processes are thus thought to be at least partially distinct.[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 3 sources checked- cites [36] Spengler, 2010, Hyperimitation of actions is related to reduced understanding of others’ minds in autism spectrum conditions, Biol Psychiatry source
- cites [37] Brass, 2009, Inhibition of imitative behaviour and social cognition, Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci source
- cites [38] Brass, 2005, The inhibition of imitative and overlearned responses: a functional double dissociation, Neuropsychologia source
May combine two claims.
PremisecitationTasks requiring deliberate imitation place demands on general cognitive functions that are impaired in schizophrenia and are not unique to imitation.
“voluntary tasks are (to varying degrees) taxing on a range of cognitive processes that are known to be impaired in schizophrenia, 32 but which are not specifically tied to imitation.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked- cites [32] Schaefer, 2013, The global cognitive impairment in schizophrenia: consistent over decades and around the world, Schizophr Res source
May combine two claims.
PremisecitationWeaker top-down control of imitation has been linked to poorer mentalizing and perspective taking, abilities that are impaired in schizophrenia.
“Interestingly, reduced top-down modulation of imitation has also been associated with reduced mentalizing and perspective-taking ability, 36,40 abilities known to be impaired in schizophrenia.45”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim2 of 3 sources checked- cites [36] Spengler, 2010, Hyperimitation of actions is related to reduced understanding of others’ minds in autism spectrum conditions, Biol Psychiatry source
- cites [40] Spengler, 2010, Resisting motor mimicry: control of imitation involves processes central to social cognition in patients with frontal and temporo-parietal lesions, Soc Neurosci source
- cites [45] Chung, 2014, A meta-analysis of mentalizing impairments in adults with schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder, Schizophr Bull source
Classified as probably not a substantial claim.
PremisecitationEarlier behavioral work suggests that people with schizophrenia imitate others less accurately.
“Behavioral studies on imitation in schizophrenia suggest that patients are impaired at imitating others [7][8][9][10][11][12]”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 3 sources checked- cites [7] Schwartz, 2006, Imitation of facial expressions in schizophrenia, Psychiatry Res source
- cites [8] Walther, 2013, Impaired gesture performance in schizophrenia: particular vulnerability of meaningless pantomimes, Neuropsychologia source
- cites [9] Matthews, 2013, Gesture imitation in schizophrenia, Schizophr Bull source
May combine two claims.
InterpretationcitationThe enhanced imitation result aligns with prior neuroimaging and TMS evidence of intact or increased mirror neuron system activity in patients, and with reports of preserved spontaneous social motor coordination in schizophrenia.
“This finding is in line with imaging and TMS studies showing intact [14][15][16][17] or even enhanced 14,24 MNS activity in patients during action observation or imitation and with work done on social motor coordination in schizophrenia, where spontaneous coordination is preserved.62”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim2 of 4 sources checked- cites [14][15][16][17]
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- cites [14] McCormick, 2012, Mirror neuron function, psychosis, and empathy in schizophrenia, Psychiatry Res source
- cites [24] Lee, 2014, Involvement of the mirror neuron system in blunted affect in schizophrenia, Schizophr Res source
- cites [62] Varlet, 2012, Impairments of social motor coordination in schizophrenia, PLoS One source
Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
PremisecitationSchizophrenia sometimes involves overimitation, manifesting as echolalia or echopraxia.
“Indeed, overimitation is sometimes seen in schizophrenia in the form of symptoms like echolalia or echopraxia.31,32”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 2 sources checked- cites [31] Gaebel, 1992, Facial expression and emotional face recognition in schizophrenia and depression, Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci source
- cites [32] Schaefer, 2013, The global cognitive impairment in schizophrenia: consistent over decades and around the world, Schizophr Res source
The Introduction describes broad cognitive impairment and a variety of symptoms in schizophrenia, but does not address overimitation, echolalia, or echopraxia. Searches for those terms and for imitation or repetitive speech and actions found no passage supporting the specific claim. (LLM, conf=0.76)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.
PremisecitationThose earlier studies found that medication made neural activity resemble that of healthy controls, which was interpreted as therapeutic.
“In these studies, medication was associated with activity more similar to that of the healthy controls, suggesting a therapeutic effect.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim2 of 2 sources checked- cites [13] Thakkar, 2014, Altered brain activation during action imitation and observation in schizophrenia: a translational approach to investigating social dysfunction in schizophrenia, Am J Psychiatry source
- cites [22] Mehta, 2014, Reduced mirror neuron activity in schizophrenia and its association with theory of mind deficits: evidence from a transcranial magnetic stimulation study, Schizophr Bull source
May combine two claims.
Interpretationown dataPatients with schizophrenia showed intact top-down modulation of imitation (imitation-inhibition), as indicated by no significant group difference in the incongruent-trial task effect.
“Patients displayed enhanced imitation and intact top-down modulation of imitation.”
- Also stated in: § Imitation-Inhibition Effect: Inhibition of Imitation vs a Control Distractor Cue · plain
“there was no significant interaction between task and group (BF = 0.07, table 2: incongruent trials)”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim- Also stated in: § Imitation-Inhibition Effect: Inhibition of Imitation vs a Control Distractor Cue · plain
Classified as probably not a substantial claim.
Study design and conductcitationThe SCAN interview was used to confirm each patient's diagnosis.
“Diagnosis was confirmed using the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN).55,56”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked- cites [55] Wing, 1998 source
- cites [56] 2005
Not checked in the free run.
Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Study design and conductown dataEach control was matched to a patient on age, sex, childhood residence, education, and parental socioeconomic status where possible.
“Controls were pairwise matched to the patients according to age, gender, childhood residence, as well as commenced educational level (or parents' educational attainment if higher than the patients') and parental socioeconomic status when possible (see table 1).”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimClassified as probably not a substantial claim.
Study design and conductreasoningA control task replaced the moving finger with a visual cue, so that the effect of seeing finger movement could be separated from other cueing effects.
“In addition, we used a control task with a visual cue in place of a moving finger, to isolate the effect of observing finger movement from other visual cueing effects.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimMay combine two claims.
Study design and conductreasoningIn the task, imitation influences finger movements unintentionally, since participants are not told to imitate and imitating would hurt their performance.
“Although the performed finger movements are voluntary, any effect of imitation on these is accidental since participants are not instructed to imitate, and general imitation results in poorer task performance.”
Quote in the paperSubstantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Study design and conductown dataPairwise matching was handled in the models by giving matched participants a shared identifier as a random intercept.
“The analyses accounted for the pairwise matching of participants (when present), by assigning the matched individuals a common identifier and entering it as a random intercept.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claimProbably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).
Interpretationown dataWhether patients not taking medication would behave like controls remains uncertain.
“It is therefore unclear whether unmedicated patients would display similar behaviors as controls.”
Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
The paper relies on this without support.
Antipsychotic medication dose is a valid proxy for medication-induced effects on automatic imitation, such that the observed dose association reflects a causal medication effect.
“The enhanced imitation seen in patients may have been medication induced as larger effects were seen in patients receiving higher antipsychotic doses.”
“Specifically, patients receiving a higher dose showed faster RTs during imitation vs control trials (see table 3: congruent trials).”
Statistics recomputed
Every reported test result, recomputed from its test statistic and degrees of freedom. A result shows as not adding up only once an independent check has confirmed it.
- Consistentz = 3.74reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001
“z = 3.74, p < .001”
- Consistentz = 4.34reported p < .001 · recomputed p < .001
“z = 4.34, p < .001”
- Consistentz = 2.27reported p = .023 · recomputed p = .023
“z = 2.27, p = .023”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Self-check results appear here once an independent check has confirmed them.
Cites
Rizzolatti, G., & Craighero, L. (2004) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144230 · Cited by 7,433 · see citing works
The chameleon effect: The perception-behavior link and social interaction.
Chartrand, T. L., & Bargh, J. A. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.76.6.893 · Cited by 4,349 · see citing works
The chameleon effect: the perception–behavior link and social interaction
Chartrand, T. L., & Bargh, J. A. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.76.6.893 · Cited by 3,674 · see citing works
Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms
Andreasen, N. C. (1982) · PsycTESTS Dataset · doi:10.1037/t12696-000 · Cited by 1,878 · see citing works
International Consensus Study of Antipsychotic Dosing
Gardner, D. M., Murphy, A. L., O'Donnell, H., Centorrino, F., & Baldessarini, R. J. (2010) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.09060802 · Cited by 1,302 · see citing works
Morosini, P. L., Magliano, L., Brambilla, L., Ugolini, S., & Pioli, R. (2000) · PubMed · Cited by 1,168 · see citing works
Social cognition in schizophrenia
Green, M. F., Horan, W. P., & Lee, J. (2015) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn4005 · Cited by 1,159 · see citing works
Morosini, P. L., Magliano, L., Brambilla, L., Ugolini, S., & Pioli, R. (2000) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1034/j.1600-0447.2000.101004323.x · Cited by 1,097 · see citing works
Brain regions with mirror properties: A meta-analysis of 125 human fMRI studies
Molenberghs, P., Cunnington, R., & Mattingley, J. B. (2011) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.07.004 · Cited by 930 · see citing works
Neural mechanisms of imitation
Iacoboni, M. (2005) · Current Opinion in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/j.conb.2005.10.010 · Cited by 606 · see citing works
The global cognitive impairment in schizophrenia: consistent over decades and around the world
Schaefer, J., Giangrande, E., Weinberger, D. R., & Dickinson, D. (2013) · Schizophrenia Research · doi:10.1016/j.schres.2013.07.009 · Cited by 605 · see citing works
Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms
Andreasen, N. C. (1986) · PsycTESTS Dataset · doi:10.1037/t48377-000 · Cited by 511 · see citing works
Gilbert, S. J., & Burgess, P. W. (2008) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.12.014 · Cited by 455 · see citing works
Dose Equivalents for Second-Generation Antipsychotics: The Minimum Effective Dose Method
Leucht, S., Samara, M. T., Heres, S., Patel, M. X., Woods, S. W., & Davis, J. M. (2014) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbu001 · Cited by 373 · see citing works
Towards a unifying neural theory of social cognition
Keysers, C., & Gazzola, V. (2006) · Progress in Brain Research · doi:10.1016/s0079-6123(06)56021-2 · Cited by 367 · see citing works
Inhibition of imitative behaviour and social cognition
Brass, M., Ruby, P., & Spengler, S. (2009) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2009.0066 · Cited by 347 · see citing works
A meta-analysis of mentalizing impairments in adults with schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder
Chung, Y. S., Barch, D., & Strube, M. (2014) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbt048 · Cited by 310 · see citing works
Facial expression and emotional face recognition in schizophrenia and depression
Gaebel, W., & Wölwer, W. (1992) · European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/bf02190342 · Cited by 293 · see citing works
The inhibition of imitative and overlearned responses: a functional double dissociation
Brass, M., Derrfuss, J., & von Cramon, D. Y. (2005) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2004.06.018 · Cited by 274 · see citing works
A review of emotion deficits in schizophrenia
Trémeau, F. (2006) · Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.31887/dcns.2006.8.1/ftremeau · Cited by 259 · see citing works
The self organization of human interaction
Dale, R., Fusaroli, R., Duran, N. D., & Richardson, D. C. (2013) · The Psychology of learning and motivation/The psychology of learning and motivation · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-407187-2.00002-2 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
Self-citationMore than mere mimicry? The influence of emotion on rapid facial reactions to faces.
Moody, E. J., McIntosh, D. N., Mann, L. J., & Weisser, K. R. (2007) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/1528-3542.7.2.447 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Training social cognition: From imitation to Theory of Mind
Santiesteban, I., White, S. J., Cook, J. L., Gilbert, S. J., Heyes, C. M., & Bird, G. (2011) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2011.11.004 · Cited by 185 · see citing works
Spengler, S., Bird, G., & Brass, M. (2010) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.09.017 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Control of shared representations relies on key processes involved in mental state attribution
Spengler, S., von Cramon, D. Y., & Brass, M. (2009) · Human Brain Mapping · doi:10.1002/hbm.20800 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Trémeau, F., Malaspina, D., Duval, F., Corrêa, H., Hager-Budny, M., Coin-Bariou, L., Macher, J.-P., & Gorman, J. M. (2004) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.162.1.92 · Cited by 157 · see citing works
Catatonia: Diagnosis, Classification, and Treatment
Francis, A. (2010) · Current Psychiatry Reports · doi:10.1007/s11920-010-0113-y · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Intranasal oxytocin modulates EEG mu/alpha and beta rhythms during perception of biological motion
Perry, A., Bentin, S., Shalev, I., Israel, S., Uzefovsky, F., Bar-On, D., & Ebstein, R. P. (2010) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2010.04.011 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Vasopressin-oxytocin in cerebrospinal fluid of schizophrenic patients and normal controls
Beckmann, H., Lang, R. E., & Gattaz, W. F. (1985) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/0306-4530(85)90056-3 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Emotional face processing in schizophrenia
Morris, R. W., Weickert, C. S., & Loughland, C. M. (2009) · Current Opinion in Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/yco.0b013e328324f895 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Neurological Soft Signs in the Clinical Course of Schizophrenia: Results of a Meta-Analysis
Bachmann, S., Degen, C., Geider, F. J., & der, J. S. O. (2014) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00185 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Utilization Behavior: Clinical Manifestations and Neurological Mechanisms
Archibald, S. J., Mateer, C. A., & Kerns, K. A. (2001) · Neuropsychology Review · doi:10.1023/a:1016673807158 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Impairments of social motor coordination in schizophrenia
Varlet, M., Marin, L., Raffard, S., Schmidt, R. C., Capdevielle, D., Boulenger, J.-P., Del-Monte, J., & Bardy, B. G. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029772 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Nonverbal Social Communication and Gesture Control in Schizophrenia
Walther, S., Stegmayer, K., Sulzbacher, J., Vanbellingen, T., Müri, R. M., Strik, W. K., & Bohlhalter, S. (2015) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbu222 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Mazza, M., Lucci, G., Pacitti, F., Pino, M. C., Mariano, M., CASACCHIA, M., & Roncone, R. (2010) · Neuropsychological Rehabilitation · doi:10.1080/09602011.2010.486284 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Empathy in schizophrenia: impaired resonance
Haker, H., & Rössler, W. (2009) · European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/s00406-009-0007-3 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Mirror neuron function, psychosis, and empathy in schizophrenia
McCormick, L. M., Brumm, M. C., Beadle, J. N., Paradiso, S., Yamada, T., & Andreasen, N. (2012) · Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging · doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2012.01.004 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Atypical Social Modulation of Imitation in Autism Spectrum Conditions
Cook, J. L., & Bird, G. (2012) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-011-1341-7 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Imitative response tendencies in patients with frontal brain lesions.
Brass, M., Derrfuss, J., Matthes-von Cramon, G., & von Cramon, D. Y. (2003) · Neuropsychology · doi:10.1037/0894-4105.17.2.265 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Reduced motor facilitation during action observation in schizophrenia: a mirror neuron deficit?
Enticott, P., Hoy, K., Herring, S., Johnston, P., Daskalakis, Z., & Fitzgerald, P. (2008) · Schizophrenia Research · doi:10.1016/j.schres.2008.04.001 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Diagnosis and clinical measurement in psychiatry : a reference manual for SCAN
Wing, J. K., Sartorius, N., & Üstün, T. B. (2008) · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Spengler, S., von Cramon, D. Y., & Brass, M. (2010) · Social Neuroscience · doi:10.1080/17470911003687905 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Hogeveen, J., Obhi, S. S., Banissy, M. J., Santiesteban, I., Press, C., Catmur, C., & Bird, G. (2015) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsu148 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Thakkar, K. N., Peterman, J. S., & Park, S. (2014) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.13040498 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Imitation, simulation, and schizophrenia
Park, S., Matthews, N., & Gibson, C. (2007) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbn048 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Empathic deficits in schizophrenia: the potential role of rapid facial mimicry
VARCIN, K. J., BAILEY, P. E., & HENRY, J. D. (2010) · Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society · doi:10.1017/s1355617710000329 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Social attitudes differentially modulate imitation in adolescents and adults
Cook, J., & Bird, G. (2011) · Experimental Brain Research · doi:10.1007/s00221-011-2584-4 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Schizophrenic patients show facial reactions to emotional facial expressions
Kring, A. M., Kerr, S. L., & Earnst, K. S. (1999) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/1469-8986.3620186 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Gesture imitation in schizophrenia
Matthews, N., Gold, B. J., Sekuler, R., & Park, S. (2013) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbr062 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Impaired pantomime in schizophrenia: Association with frontal lobe function
Walther, S., Vanbellingen, T., Müri, R. M., Strik, W. K., & Bohlhalter, S. (2012) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2011.12.008 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Mehta, U. M., Thirthalli, J., Basavaraju, R., Gangadhar, B. N., & Pascual-Leone, A. (2014) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbt155 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Uvnäs‐Moberg, K., Alster, P., & Svensson, T. H. (1992) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/bf02247726 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Nonverbal Behavior During Face-to-face Social Interaction in Schizophrenia
Lavelle, M., Healey, P. G. T., & McCabe, R. (2013) · The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/nmd.0000000000000031 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Oxytocin selectively modulates brain response to stimuli probing social synchrony
Lévy, J., Goldstein, A., Zagoory‐Sharon, O., Weisman, O., Schneiderman, I., Eidelman-Rothman, M., & Feldman, R. (2015) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.09.066 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Impaired gesture performance in schizophrenia: particular vulnerability of meaningless pantomimes
Walther, S., Vanbellingen, T., Müri, R., Strik, W., & Bohlhalter, S. (2013) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2013.08.017 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
The Mirror Neuron System and Imitation
Iacoboni, M. (2011) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195342161.013.0036 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Self-reported empathy and neural activity during action imitation and observation in schizophrenia
Horan, W. P., Iacoboni, M., Cross, K. A., Korb, A., Lee, J., Nori, P., Quintana, J., Wynn, J. K., & Green, M. F. (2014) · NeuroImage: Clinical · doi:10.1016/j.nicl.2014.06.006 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Sniff and mimic–Intranasal oxytocin increases facial mimicry in a sample of men
Korb, S., Malsert, J., Strathearn, L., Vuilleumier, P., & Niedenthal, P. (2016) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.06.003 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Falkenberg, I., Bartels, M., & Wild, B. (2008) · European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/s00406-007-0792-5 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Some markers of mirroring appear intact in schizophrenia: evidence from mu suppression
Horan, W. P., Pineda, J. A., Wynn, J. K., Iacoboni, M., & Green, M. F. (2014) · Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-013-0245-8 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Involvement of the mirror neuron system in blunted affect in schizophrenia
Lee, J. S., Chun, J. W., Yoon, S. Y., Park, H.-J., & Kim, J.-J. (2014) · Schizophrenia Research · doi:10.1016/j.schres.2013.10.043 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Imitation of facial expressions in schizophrenia
Schwartz, B. L., Mastropaolo, J., Rosse, R. B., Mathis, G., & Deutsch, S. I. (2006) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2005.12.007 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
The imitation game: Effects of social cues on ‘imitation’ are domain-general in nature
Marsh, L. E., Bird, G., & Catmur, C. (2016) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.06.050 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
The Mirror Neuron System and Imitation
(2005) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/5330.003.0002 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Delineating psychomotor slowing from reduced processing speed in schizophrenia
Morrens, M., Hulstijn, W., Matton, C., Madani, Y., Bouwel, L. V., Peuskens, J., & Sabbe, B. (2008) · Cognitive Neuropsychiatry · doi:10.1080/13546800802439312 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
The influence of Oxytocin on automatic motor simulation
Coster, L. D., Mueller, S. C., T'Sjoen, G. G., Saedeleer, L. D., & Braß, M. (2014) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.08.021 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Putnam, K. M., & Kring, A. M. (2007) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2006.09.010 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Gesture Performance in First- and Multiple-Episode Patients with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders
Stegmayer, K., Moor, J., Vanbellingen, T., Bohlhalter, S., Müri, R. M., Strik, W. K., & Walther, S. (2016) · Neuropsychobiology · doi:10.1159/000446116 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
No evidence for mirror system dysfunction in schizophrenia from a multimodal TMS/EEG study
Andrews, S. C., Enticott, P. G., Hoy, K. E., Thomson, R. H., & Fitzgerald, P. B. (2015) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2015.05.067 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Effects of intranasal oxytocin on neural processing within a socially relevant neural circuit
Singh, F., Nunag, J., Muldoon, G., Cadenhead, K. S., Pineda, J. A., & Feifel, D. (2015) · European Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2015.12.026 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Braun, C., Bernier, S., Proulx, R., & Cohen, H. (1991) · doi:10.1016/0887-6177(89)90034-6 · Cited by 8
Braun, C., Bernier, S., Proulx, R., et al. (1991) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699939108411031 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Accent echoing: a newly described imitation phenomenon of psychosis?
Strous, R. D., Stryjer, R., Zerzion, M., et al. (2003) · PubMed · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Stegmayer, K., Moor, J., Vanbellingen, T., et al. (2016) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.5129881
Disorders of Social Motor Coordination in Schizophrenia
Varlet, M., Marín, L., Raffard, S., Schmidt, R. C., Capdevielle, D., Boulenger, J., Del-Monte, J., & Bardy, B. G. (2011) · BIO Web of Conferences · doi:10.1051/bioconf/20110100091
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Hurley, 2005, Perspectives on Imitation: Mechanisms of Imitation and Imitation in Animals
- 2005, Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing Application for the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry Version 2.1 and Diagnostic Algorithms for WHO ICD 10 chapter V DCR and for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Version IV
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Vaskinn, A., & Horan, W. P. (2020) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbaa034 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Interpersonal Coordination in Schizophrenia: A Scoping Review of the Literature
Dean, D. J., Scott, J., & Park, S. (2021) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbab072 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Taking others into account: combining directly experienced and indirect information in schizophrenia
Simonsen, A., Fusaroli, R., Petersen, M. L., Vermillet, A., Bliksted, V., Mors, O. N., Roepstorff, A., & Campbell-Meiklejohn, D. K. (2021) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/awab065 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Self-citationRaffard, S., Salesse, R. N., Bortolon, C., Bardy, B. G., Henriques, J., Marín, L., Stricker, D., & Capdevielle, D. (2018) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-018-35813-6 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Eddy, C. M. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.797952 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“Both enhanced (189) and impaired imitation (190):”
Time and Body: Phenomenological and Psychopathological Approaches
Tewes, C., & Stanghellini, G. (2020) · Florence Research (University of Florence) · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Van Duppen, Z., & Sienaert, P. A. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108776660 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Simonsen, A., Mahnkeke, M. I., Fusaroli, R., Wolf, T., Roepstorff, A., Michael, J., Frith, C., & Bliksted, V. (2020) · Schizophrenia Bulletin Open · doi:10.1093/schizbullopen/sgaa053 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Self-citationComparing self–other distinction across motor, cognitive and affective domains
Pronizius, E., Bukowski, H., & Lamm, C. (2024) · Royal Society Open Science · doi:10.1098/rsos.240662 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“[118] reported intact top-down modulation of imitation in patients with schizophrenia, whereas Rudolph et al .”
BackgroundFattal, J., McAdams, D. P., & Mittal, V. A. (2025) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106037 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Rudolph, A., Liepelt, R., Kaffes, M., Hofmann-Shen, C., Montag, C., & Neuhaus, A. H. (2022) · Schizophrenia Research · doi:10.1016/j.schres.2021.12.024 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Automatic Imitation of Hand Movements in Clinical and Neurodiverse Populations
Poliakoff, E., & Gowen, E. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-62634-0_12 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Froese, T., & Krueger, J. W. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/3ge6m · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Finally, this perspective also sheds new light on findings that individuals with schizophrenia exhibit normal levels of interpersonal synchrony and imitation when confronted by virtual agents or videos of others (Raffard et al., 2018; Simonsen et al., 2019).”
BackgroundShamanna, V., Mehta, U. M., Naik, S. S., Basavaraju, R., & Thirthalli, J. (2023) · Asian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2023.103504 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Warlop, G., Formica, S., Cracco, E., Blontrock, L., Wiersema, J., & Deconinck, F. J. A. (2025) · Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior · doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2025.08.009 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Ulloa, J. L., Núñez, D. E., Gaspar, P. A., & Braß, M. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1470030
- Authors
- Simonsen, A., Fusaroli, R., Skewes, J. C., Roepstorff, A., Campbell-Meiklejohn, D., Mors, O., & Bliksted, V.
- Affiliations
- Aarhus University (DK)
- University of Sussex (GB)
- Aarhus University Hospital (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Simonsen, Arndis
- ORCID
- Venue
- Schizophrenia Bulletin
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2018-02-21
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 87-95
- ISSN
- 0586-7614 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-1701
- PMC
- PMC6293210
- OpenAlex
- W2785101266
- Semantic Scholar
- 37edf1c8b07618ea2b2f05d99984695685b5309a
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 74
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 5 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 2.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
- Locations
- Schizophrenia Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Sussex Research Online (University of Sussex) (submittedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (submittedVersion)
- PubMed Central (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Lundbeck Foundation, Denmark (R102-A9118, R155-2014-1724)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Mental Health and Psychiatry
- Keywords
- schizophrenia, automatic imitation
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Humans, Imitative Behavior, Inhibition, Psychological, Male, Middle Aged, Psychomotor Performance, Schizophrenia
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-08.
Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-08.
Cited sources are checked by gpt-6-sol.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review