Visual integration dysfunction in schizophrenia arises by the first psychotic episode and worsens with illness duration.

ABSTRACT: Visual integration dysfunction characterizes schizophrenia, but prior studies have not yet established whether the problem arises by the first psychotic episode or worsens with illness duration. To investigate the issue, we compared chronic schizophrenia patients (SZs), first episode psychosis patients (FEs), and well-matched healthy controls on a brief but sensitive psychophysical task in which subjects attempted to locate an integrated shape embedded in noise. Task difficulty depended on the number of noise elements co-presented with the shape. For half of the experiment, the entire display was scaled down in size to produce a high spatial frequency (HSF) condition, which has been shown to worsen patient integration deficits. Catch trials-in which the circular target appeared without noi

SUBMITTER: Keane BP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4850085 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature