Background and hypothesis: Previous studies on Empathic Accuracy Task (EAT) suggested patients with schizophrenia exhibited altered brain activations in the precuneus, middle frontal gyrus, and thalamus. However, it remains unclear whether individuals with schizotypy would exhibit similar alterations of brain activations associated with EAT. This study aimed to examine the relationships between schizotypy and intersubject correlation (ISC) during EAT.

Study design: Forty-seven college students undertook the Chinese version of EAT in a 3T MRI scanner. The Chapman Social Anhedonia Scale (CSAS) and Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS) were used to capture negative and positive schizotypy, respectively. We adopted GLM analysis, ISC analyses of brain activation, and dynamic functional connectivity during EAT to examine its association with dimensional schizotypy and self-report empathy.

Study results: Regardless of schizotypy scores, brain activations in the middle occipital cortex, precuneus, lingual gyrus, paracentral gyrus, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were associated with participants' empathic accuracy, while strong ISC of brain activations were found in bilateral superior temporal gyri (STG). Negative schizotypy was associated with ISC of brain activation in the precentral gyrus and dynamic connectivity between the STG and ACC, both of which further mediated the associations between negative schizotypy and self-report affective empathy.

Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest that weaker intersubject synchronization of brain activation in the precentral gyrus and dynamic connectivity between the STG and ACC is related to negative schizotypy. Our findings may shed light on the underlying neural mechanisms of impaired social cognition in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

Keywords: empathy; mediation effect; neural synchronization; perceptual aberration; social anhedonia.

© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center.