‘‘Theory of Mind’ ’ in Schizophrenia: A Review of the Literature

The term theory of mind (ToM) refers to the capacity to infer one’s own and other persons ’ mental states. A substan-tial body of research has highlighted the evolution of ToM in nonhuman primates, its emergence during human ontog-eny, and impaired ToM in a variety of neuropsychiatric dis-orders, including schizophrenia. There is good empirical evidence that ToM is specifically impaired in schizophrenia and thatmany psychotic symptoms—for instance, delusions of alien control and persecution, the presence of thought and language disorganization, and other behavioral symp-toms—may best be understood in light of a disturbed capac-ity in patients to relate their own intentions to executing behavior, and to monitor others ’ intentions. However, it is still under debate how an impaired ToM in schizophrenia is associatedwith other aspects of cognition, how the impair-ment fluctuateswithacuityorchronicityof theschizophrenic disorder, and how this affects the patients ’ use of language and social behavior. In addition to these potential research areas, future studiesmayalsoaddresswhetherpatients could benefit from cognitive training in this domain