M C Allé1, A d'Argembeau2, P Schneider3, J Potheegadoo1, R Coutelle4, J-M Danion5, F Berna6. 1. INSERM U-1114, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Clinique Psychiatrique, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; FMTS: Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France. 2. Department of Psychology - Cognition and Behavior, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium; Cyclotron Research Centre, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium. 3. Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France. 4. INSERM U-1114, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Clinique Psychiatrique, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; FMTS: Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Strasbourg Cedex, France. 5. INSERM U-1114, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Clinique Psychiatrique, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; FMTS: Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France. 6. INSERM U-1114, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Clinique Psychiatrique, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; FMTS: Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, 1 place de l'Hôpital, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France. Electronic address: fabrice.berna@chru-strasbourg.fr.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Disorders of the self, such as a reduced sense of personal continuity in time, are a core symptom of schizophrenia, but one that is still poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated two complementary aspects of self-continuity, namely phenomenological and narrative continuity, in 27 patients with schizophrenia, and compared them with 27 control participants. METHODS: Participants were asked to identify important past events and to narrate a story from their life that included these events. They were also asked to imagine important events that might happen in their personal future and to build a narrative of their future life. The vividness of these important life events and the proportion of self-event connections in the narratives were used as a measure of phenomenological and narrative continuity, respectively. RESULTS: Our study showed patients with schizophrenia experienced less vivid representations of personally significant events (p = .02) for both temporal directions (past and future) (p < .001). In addition, their ability to make explicit connections between personal events and self-attributes in life narratives was also impaired (p = .03), but only in the case of past narratives (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: These results shed new light on the cognitive mechanisms underlying self-disorders in schizophrenia. The clinical and therapeutic implications of these findings are discussed.
BACKGROUND: Disorders of the self, such as a reduced sense of personal continuity in time, are a core symptom of schizophrenia, but one that is still poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated two complementary aspects of self-continuity, namely phenomenological and narrative continuity, in 27 patients with schizophrenia, and compared them with 27 control participants. METHODS:Participants were asked to identify important past events and to narrate a story from their life that included these events. They were also asked to imagine important events that might happen in their personal future and to build a narrative of their future life. The vividness of these important life events and the proportion of self-event connections in the narratives were used as a measure of phenomenological and narrative continuity, respectively. RESULTS: Our study showed patients with schizophrenia experienced less vivid representations of personally significant events (p = .02) for both temporal directions (past and future) (p < .001). In addition, their ability to make explicit connections between personal events and self-attributes in life narratives was also impaired (p = .03), but only in the case of past narratives (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: These results shed new light on the cognitive mechanisms underlying self-disorders in schizophrenia. The clinical and therapeutic implications of these findings are discussed.