Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability to infer the mental states of others. ToM is impaired in schizophrenia and these deficits seem to hinder functional recovery. ToM is thus an important, but complex treatment target, supported by several processes. A large number of studies report significant associations between ToM and neurocognition (e.g. memory, attention), but the neurocognitive domains that are most closely linked to ToM remain to be identified. A meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the magnitude of the associations between ToM and neurocognition in people with schizophrenia. Correlations were extracted from the relevant literature, transformed into effect sizes Zr and pooled as weighted means. Focused-tests were employed to test for differences between neurocognitive domains and for differences linked to the characteristics of ToM tasks. Ninety-one studies (N = 5462) were included. Moderate associations emerged between ToM and each neurocognitive domain (Zrs 0.27-0.43), with no significant difference between domains (χ2(8) = 11.89, p = 0.156). Within the domain of executive functions, abstraction showed a stronger association with ToM (χ2(4) = 18.93, p = 0.001). Several ToM tasks characteristics (e.g. modality of stimuli, type of mental state), were significantly related to the magnitude of the associations between ToM and executive functions, visuospatial/problem solving, attention and episodic memory. These results suggest that ToM is linked to a wide range of neurocognitive abilities in schizophrenia, and that ToM tasks are a significant moderator of these associations. The assessment and treatment of ToM should consider the neurocognitive profile of each patient to understand his difficulties and to tailor interventions.

中文翻译：

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精神分裂症心理理论与神经认知关联的荟萃分析

心理理论（ToM）是指推断他人心理状态的能力。ToM 在精神分裂症中受损，这些缺陷似乎阻碍了功能恢复。因此，ToM 是一个重要但复杂的治疗目标，由多个过程支持。大量研究报告了 ToM 与神经认知（例如记忆、注意力）之间的显着关联，但与 ToM 最密切相关的神经认知领域仍有待确定。进行了一项荟萃分析以估计精神分裂症患者的 ToM 与神经认知之间关联的程度。从相关文献中提取相关性，转化为效果大小 Zr 并汇总为加权平均值。使用重点测试来测试神经认知域之间的差异以及与 ToM 任务特征相关的差异。纳入了 91 项研究（N = 5462）。ToM 和每个神经认知域之间出现中等关联（Zrs 0.27-0.43），域之间没有显着差异（χ2(8) = 11.89，p = 0.156）。在执行功能领域内，抽象表现出与 ToM 更强的关联（χ2(4) = 18.93，p = 0.001）。若干 ToM 任务特征（例如刺激的方式、精神状态类型）与 ToM 与执行功能、视觉空间/问题解决、注意力和情景记忆之间关联的程度显着相关。这些结果表明 ToM 与精神分裂症中广泛的神经认知能力有关，并且 ToM 任务是这些关联的重要调节器。ToM 的评估和治疗应考虑每位患者的神经认知特征，以了解他的困难并制定干预措施。