Pharmacological interventions in social cognition deficits: A systematic mapping review

• Published in: Psychiatry research Vol. 270; pp. 57 - 67
• Main Authors: Fernández-Sotos, Patricia, Navarro, Elena, Torio, Iosune, Dompablo, Mónica, Fernández-Caballero, Antonio, Rodriguez-Jimenez, Roberto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier B.V 01.12.2018
• Subjects: Attributional bias; Emotional processing; Pharmacological intervention; Social cognition; Social perception; Systematic mapping review; Theory of mind; Emotional processing; Social perception; Attributional bias; Systematic mapping review; Theory of mind; Pharmacological intervention; Social cognition
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.09.012

•There is an increasing interest in pharmacological treatment of social cognition deficits.•The publications have a high degree of scientific evidence.•The journals publishing these articles have a high impact factor.•Schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder are the most studied disorders, and the main substances used are oxytocin, psychostimulants, and antipsychotics.•The studies have focused on emotional processing and theory of mind. Social cognition is an important research field in psychiatry due to its relevance in the functioning and quality of life of patients. The objective of this work is to conduct a systematic mapping review of pharmacological strategies for improving social cognition deficits. Publications from 2006 to 2016 were reviewed in Scopus, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Embase. From the initial 1059 publications obtained, a final number of 110 were selected. The results show an increasing interest in pharmacological approaches in different medical fields (especially psychiatry, pharmacology, and endocrinology, with schizophrenia and autism as the most studied disorders), as can be observed in the progressive increase in the number of publications, the high degree of scientific evidence, and the high impact factor of publications. However, it is also observed that most studies were conducted with oxytocin, psychostimulants, and antipsychotics (mainly risperidone and olanzapine), with few studies using other drugs. In the different social cognition domains, the majority of publications were focused on emotional processing or theory of mind, with few studies in other domains. Thus, this systematic mapping review shows that, even though there are increasing research activities, there are some important gaps to cover in future investigation.