Neuropsychological Comparison Between Patients with Social Anxiety and Healthy Controls: Weak Central Coherence and Visual Scanning Deficit

Sho Okawa; Sayo Hamatani; Yuta Hayashi; Honami Arai; Masato Nihei; Tokiko Yoshida; Jumpei Takahashi; Eiji Shimizu; Yoshiyuki Hirano

doi:10.2147/NDT.S283950

Neuropsychological Comparison Between Patients with Social Anxiety and Healthy Controls: Weak Central Coherence and Visual Scanning Deficit

Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2020 Nov 25:16:2849-2855. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S283950. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Sho Okawa^{1

2

3}, Sayo Hamatani^{2

4}, Yuta Hayashi^{5

6}, Honami Arai^{2

7}, Masato Nihei^{2

4}, Tokiko Yoshida², Jumpei Takahashi^{1

2}, Eiji Shimizu^{2

3}, Yoshiyuki Hirano^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
² Research Center of Child Mental Development, Chiba University, Chiba-shi, Chiba 260-8670, Japan.
³ Department of Cognitive Behavioral Physiology, Chiba University, Chiba-shi, Chiba 260-8670, Japan.
⁴ Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan.
⁵ Department of Nursing, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe University, Suma-ku, Kobe 654-0142, Japan.
⁶ Graduate School of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-1692, Japan.
⁷ Faculty of Human Sciences, Tsukuba University, Bunkyo City, Tokyo 112-0012, Japan.

Abstract

Introduction: Although deficits in neuropsychological functioning have been reported in social anxiety disorder (SAD), studies focusing on neuropsychological dysfunction in SAD are limited, and the evidence is still lacking. The purpose of this study was to examine the deficits in neuropsychological functioning in patients with SAD by comparing SAD patients and a healthy control (HC) group.

Materials and methods: A total of 72 participants (20 in the SAD group and 52 in the HC group) were assessed with neuropsychological tests, consisting of the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) to measure central coherence and the Trail Making Test A and B (TMT-A; TMT-B) to measure visual scanning and executive functioning.

Results: Analysis of covariance with depressive symptoms as a covariate revealed that central coherence (RCFT) and visual scanning (TMT-A) were significantly lower in the SAD group than in the HC group. No difference was found in executive functioning (TMT-B) when the effect of visual scanning was considered.

Discussion: Our findings suggest that SAD patients have weak central coherence and deficits in visual scanning compared to healthy controls. The clinical implications of these neuropsychological functioning deficits in SAD patients are discussed.

Keywords: central coherence; executive functioning; neuropsychological functioning; social anxiety disorder; visual scanning.