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Social environment as a determinant of mismatch negativity in early psychosis

Neuropsychopharmacology (2025)Cite this article

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Neighborhood characteristics are increasingly recognized as major risk factors for psychosis and social functioning among youth at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P) [1]. One neighborhood factor consistently associated with psychosis is social fragmentation. Social fragmentation is characterized by the disruption of social ties and relationships among residents and families [2]. The Social Disorganization Theory posits that in socially fragmented neighborhoods, the lack of a stable social environment and the absence of collective efficacy in norms lead people to feel a sense of isolation and a lack of belonging, particularly aversive to children’s mental health.

Growing up in socially fragmented places may disrupt the brain’s ability to form stable and reliable models of the social world. Individuals are frequently exposed to unfamiliar people and inconsistent social cues and norms, reducing the reliability of incoming sensory information. Thus, when the external environment becomes too noisy/ambiguous to support accurate interpretation, the brain may compensate by relying more heavily on prior beliefs to make sense of social experiences. According to the predictive coding model of psychosis, disrupted belief updating contributes to the development of schizophrenia.

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Fig. 1: A schematic conceptual model of the relationships between social environment, mismatch negativity, and psychosis.

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Funding

Funded by NIMH K23-MH129684 to Dr. Ku.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Benson S. Ku

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Jared W. Young

  3. Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA

    Jared W. Young

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  1. Benson S. Ku
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  2. Jared W. Young
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BSK and JWY wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Benson S. Ku.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Ku, B.S., Young, J.W. Social environment as a determinant of mismatch negativity in early psychosis. Neuropsychopharmacol. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-025-02195-z

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