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S460

24th European Congress of Psychiatry / European Psychiatry 33S (2016) S349–S805

EV350

From clinical cases to clinical

research: Neurocognition and social

cognition in schizophrenia

I. Gurovich , O. Papsuev

, A. Shmukler , L. Movina ,

Y. Storozhakova

Moscow Research Institute of Psychiatry, Outpatient Psychiatry and

Organization of Psychiatric Care, Moscow, Russia

Corresponding author.

Introduction

Neurocognition and social cognition are the core

deficits influencing social outcomes in patients with schizophre-

nia. These deficits are present in prodromal phase and throughout

the illness, in first-degree relatives and are considered in the frame-

work of neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative models.

Method

Four clinical cases with patients reflecting different

cognitive profiles were chosen to demonstrate heterogeneity of

cognitive biases and their influence on the social function en vivo.

The patients have undergone a number of neurocognitive and social

cognitive measures.

Results

In these four patients, we would like to highlight the

dissociation of neurocognitive deficits, clinical manifestations and

social functioning. Social cognitive measures revealed heterogene-

ity of biases in different domains. As a result of our observation,

we can hypothesize that better social functioning was achieved by

patients with better abilities to discriminate negative emotions and

states of mind in others.

Conclusion

Despite certain limitations of case-report studies, it

is hard not to point out heterogeneity and incoherence of social

and neurocognition. We assume that intact domains of Process-

ing of Emotions and Theory of Mind predispose to better social

functioning, while it’s hard to trace this connection to neurocogni-

tion. This result needs to be challenged on large samples in future

research, concerning emotionality in Theory of Mind and capacity

for empathy and its’ role in social functioning.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their decla-

ration of competing interest.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.1335

EV351

Emotional processing in panic

disorder and its subtypes: An fMRI

study using the emotional faces

paradigm

T. Pattyn

1 , 2 ,

, L. Schmaal

3

, V.D.E. Filip

1 , 4

, P. Brenda

3

,

S. Bernard

1 , 2

, V. Dick

3 , 5

1

University of Antwerp, Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research

Institute CAPRI, Antwerp, Belgium

2

Antwerp University Hospital, University Department of Psychiatry,

Antwerpen, Belgium

3

VUmc, Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Amsterdam,

Netherlands

4

Antwerp University Hospital, University Department of Psychiatry,

Antwerp, Belgium

5

VUmc, EMGO Institute of Health and Care Research, Amsterdam,

Netherlands

Corresponding author.

Introduction

The literature on the neurobiology of emotional

processing in panic disorder (PD) remains inconsistent. Clinical

heterogeneity could be causing this.

Objective

To investigate differences in brain activity between PD

and healthy controls using the emotional faces fMRI paradigm.

Aims

To elucidate neurobiological mechanisms underlying emo-

tional processing in PD and previously identified subtypes (Pattyn

et al., 2015).

Methods

The main analysis compared the neural processing of

different emotional facial expressions from a large group of PD

patients (

n

= 73) versus healthy controls (

n

= 58) originating from

the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). A

second analysis divided the PD group into the three previously

identified subgroups: a cognitive-autonomic (

n

= 22), an autonomic

(

n

= 16) and an aspecific subgroup (

n

= 35). The fusiform gyrus,

the anterior cingulate cortex and the insula were used in a ROI

approach.

Results

Comparing PD patients with healthy controls, a

decreased activity on angry faces was observed in the left fusiform

gyrus. The subgroup analysis showed more activity in the anterior

cingulate cortex on neutral faces in the cognitive-autonomic

subgroup versus the autonomic subgroup and a decreased activity

in the left fusiform gyrus on angry faces compared to the aspecific

subgroup. Less activity was observed in the right insula on neutral

faces in the autonomic subgroup versus the aspecific subgroup.

Conclusion

Reduced activity in the left fusiform gyrus was dif-

ferentiating panic disorder patients from healthy controls. In

accordance with clinical subtyping, between-subtype differences

are an indication that a phenomenological approach could provide

more insight in underlying neurobiological mechanisms in emo-

tional processing in PD.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their decla-

ration of competing interest.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.1336

EV352

The advantage of fear stimuli in

accessing visual awareness

N. Gomes

1

, S. Silva

2

, C. Silva

3

, J. Azevedo

4 ,

, S. Soares

3 , 5

1

Portuguese Catholic University, Institute of Health Sciences, Lisboa,

Portugal

2

University of Aveiro, DETI/IEETA, Aveiro, Portugal

3

Center for Health Technology and Services Research, University of

Aveiro CINTESIS-UA, Department of Education, Aveiro, Portugal

4

Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Psychological Medicine,

Coimbra, Portugal

5

Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division

for Psychology, Sweden, Sweden

Corresponding author.

Introduction

Several studies have shown that evolutionary rele-

vant fear stimuli hold a privileged access to the fear module, an

independent behavioral, psychophysiological and neural system

that is automatically and selectively activated, and is relatively

encapsulated from more advanced human cognition. However,

to the best of our knowledge no study has yet directly assessed

whether such stimuli are granted a facilitated access to visual

awareness, compared to stimuli without such evolutionary rele-

vance.

Objective

In the present study we used an interocular suppres-

sion technique, the Continuous Flash Suppression, known to reduce

the activity along the geniculostriate pathway and to strongly sup-

press processing in the visual cortex.

Aim

Our goal was to investigate whether ecologically rele-

vant fear stimuli (snakes and spiders) overcame suppression and

accessed awareness to a larger extent than non-evolutionary rele-

vant animal stimuli (birds).

Method

Thirty university students volunteered to participate.

Participants were asked to identify the screen quadrant in which

the stimuluswas presented in order to ensure that therewas indeed

a conscious processing.

Results

The results confirmed our hypothesis by showing an

advantage of fear stimuli (snakes and spiders) over the control stim-

ulus (birds) in emerging from suppression into awareness, which

was evidenced by significantly shorter response times.

Conclusions

Our findings support the notion that evolutionary

relevant stimuli hold a privileged access into awareness, most

likely involving a direct brainstem-thalamic route to the amygdala.