Cognitive and Prepulse Inhibition Deficits in Psychometrically High Schizotypal Subjects in the General Population: Relevance to Schizophrenia Research

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella G. Giakoumaki
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
General Population ◽  
Prepulse Inhibition ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Attention And Memory ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Schizotypal Personality ◽  
Psychosis Proneness ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractSchizophrenia and schizotypal personality disorder share common clinical profiles, neurobiological and genetic substrates along with Prepulse Inhibition and cognitive deficits; among those, executive, attention, and memory dysfunctions are more consistent. Schizotypy is considered to be a non-specific “psychosis-proneness,” and understanding the relationship between schizotypal traits and cognitive function in the general population is a promising approach for endophenotypic research in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. In this review, findings for executive function, attention, memory, and Prepulse Inhibition impairments in psychometrically defined schizotypal subjects have been summarized and compared to schizophrenia patients and their unaffected first-degree relatives. Cognitive flexibility, sustained attention, working memory, and Prepulse Inhibition impairments were consistently reported in high schizotypal subjects in accordance to schizophrenia patients. Genetic studies assessing the effects of various candidate gene polymorphisms in schizotypal traits and cognitive function are promising, further supporting a polygenic mode of inheritance. The implications of the findings, methodological issues, and suggestions for future research are discussed. (JINS, 2012, 18, 1–14)

The Schizophrenia Spectrum

2018 ◽  
pp. 208-230
Author(s):  
Marco Del Giudice
Keyword(s):  
General Pattern ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Evolutionary Models ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
External Reality ◽  
Schizotypal Personality ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Loss Of Contact ◽  
Developmental Features

The chapter discusses schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs), including schizophrenia and schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). Schizophrenia and related disorders are part of the broader spectrum of psychosis, a cluster of genetically and phenotypically related conditions marked by loss of contact with external reality. After an overview of these disorders, their developmental features, and the main risk factors identified in the epidemiological literature, the chapter critically reviews existing evolutionary models and suggests new directions for research. The final section applies the criteria developed earlier in the book to classify the disorders within the fast-slow-defense (FSD) model and identify functionally distinct subtypes. The author concludes that most instances of SSDs can be classified as fast spectrum (F-type) conditions; however, there are indications of heterogeneity within these conditions, and future research is likely to identify exceptions to the general pattern.

Sensorimotor Gating and Attitudes Related to Schizotypal Proneness

2001 ◽  
Vol 88 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1035-1045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almut I. Weike ◽  
Alfons O. Hamm ◽  
Dieter Vaitl
Keyword(s):  
Prepulse Inhibition ◽  
Sensorimotor Gating ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Eyeblink Response ◽  
Startle Eyeblink ◽  
Psychosis Proneness ◽  
Gating Mechanism ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Information Processing Deficits

The magnitude of the startle eyeblink response is diminished when the startle-eliciting probe is shortly preceded by another stimulus. This so called prepulse inhibition is interpreted as an automatic sensorimotor gating mechanism. There is substantial support for prepulse inhibition deficits in subjects suffering from schizophrenia spectrum disorders and in psychosis-prone normals as well. Thus, prepulse inhibition deficits may reflect vulnerability on the hypothesized psychopathological continuum from “normal” to “schizophrenia.” The present experiment investigated the amount of prepulse inhibition in a sample selected for “belief in extraordinary phenomena,” an attitude related to measures of psychosis-proneness. Believers and skeptics were tested in an acoustic prepulse-inhibition paradigm. As expected, presentation of prepulses clearly diminished magnitude of startle response, with greatest inhibition effects gained by lead intervals of 60 and 120 msec. Patterns of response were identical for believers and skeptics, i.e., attitude towards extraordinary phenomena did not seem to be related to functional information-processing deficits as has been observed in psychosis-prone normals.

The Relationship Between Multisensory Temporal Processing and Schizotypal Traits

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler C. Dalal ◽  
Anne-Marie Muller ◽  
Ryan A Stevenson
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Processing ◽  
Temporal Order Judgment ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Magical Thinking ◽  
Schizotypal Personality ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
The Relationship

Recent literature has suggested that atypical sensory processing observed in schizophrenia may contribute to clinical symptomatology. Specifically, multisensory temporal processing was shown to be strongly associated with hallucination severity. Here, we explored whether this relationship extends to a broader spectrum of schizotypal traits, in line with the DSM-5’s shift towards a more dimensional approach to diagnostic criteria within Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders. Fifty-one participants completed an audiovisual temporal order judgment task as a measure of multisensory temporal processing and self-reported levels of schizotypal traits using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. These data revealed two novel findings. First, less precise multisensory temporal processing was related to higher overall levels of schizotypal traits. Second, this relationship was specific to the cognitive-perceptual domain, and more specifically, the Unusual Perceptual Experiences and Odd Beliefs or Magical Thinking measures. Previous literature has shown that less precise multisensory temporal processing was related to the severity of hallucinations in schizophrenia. These findings provide a novel, direct extension of this previous work by demonstrating that this relationship applies to traits across the schizophrenia spectrum, including at the subclinical level.

scholarly journals Schizotypy and brain structure: a voxel-based morphometry study

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (9) ◽  
pp. 1423-1431 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Modinos ◽  
A. Mechelli ◽  
J. Ormel ◽  
N. A. Groenewold ◽  
A. Aleman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter Volume ◽  
Chronic Schizophrenia ◽  
Posterior Cingulate Cortex ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Voxel Based Morphometry ◽  
Schizotypal Personality ◽  
Psychosis Proneness ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

BackgroundSchizotypy is conceptualized as a subclinical manifestation of the same underlying biological factors that give rise to schizophrenia and other schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Individuals with psychometric schizotypy (PS) experience subthreshold psychotic signs and can be psychometrically identified among the general population. Previous research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has shown gray-matter volume (GMV) abnormalities in chronic schizophrenia, in subjects with an at-risk mental state (ARMS) and in individuals with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). However, to date, no studies have investigated the neuroanatomical correlates of PS.MethodSix hundred first- and second-year university students completed the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE), a self-report instrument on psychosis proneness measuring attenuated positive psychotic experiences. A total of 38 subjects with high and low PS were identified and subsequently scanned with MRI. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was applied to examine GMV differences between subjects with high and low positive PS.ResultsSubjects with high positive PS showed larger global volumes compared to subjects with low PS, and larger regional volumes in the medial posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the precuneus. There were no regions where GMV was greater in low than in high positive PS subjects.ConclusionsThese regions, the PCC and precuneus, have also been sites of volumetric differences in MRI studies of ARMS subjects and schizophrenia, suggesting that psychotic or psychotic-like experiences may have common neuroanatomical correlates across schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

scholarly journals The relationship between affective visual mismatch negativity to interpersonal difficulties across autism and schizotypal traits

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talitha C. Ford ◽  
Laila E. Hugrass ◽  
Bradley N. Jack
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Autism Spectrum Quotient ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Schizotypal Personality ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Interpersonal Difficulties ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractSensory deficits are a feature of autism and schizophrenia spectrum disorders and are also common at the upper end of their non-clinical spectra. The mismatch negativity (MMN), an index of preattentive auditory processing, is particularly sensitive in detecting such deficits; however, little is known about the relationship between the visual MMN (vMMN) to emotional faces and the specific traits that exist within the spectrum disorders. We probed the vMMN to happy, sad, and neutral faces in 77 young adults (18-40 years) and found that the vMMN to happy faces (happy standard minus happy deviant stimuli) was significantly larger than the vMMNs to sad and neutral faces (p > 0.05). We also found a significant correlation between vMMN to happy faces and interpersonal difficulties as indexed by the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) Communication and Attention to Detail subscales, and Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) Interpersonal Features (p < 0.05). These findings suggest a specificity of preattentive processing of positive affect to interpersonal features across the autism and schizophrenia spectrum.

The Relationship Between Multisensory Temporal Processing and Schizotypal Traits

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Tyler C. Dalal ◽  
Anne-Marie Muller ◽  
Ryan A. Stevenson
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Temporal Processing ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Magical Thinking ◽  
Schizotypal Personality ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Recent literature has suggested that deficits in sensory processing are associated with schizophrenia (SCZ), and more specifically hallucination severity. The DSM-5’s shift towards a dimensional approach to diagnostic criteria has led to SCZ and schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) being classified as schizophrenia spectrum disorders. With SCZ and SPD overlapping in aetiology and symptomatology, such as sensory abnormalities, it is important to investigate whether these deficits commonly reported in SCZ extend to non-clinical expressions of SPD. In this study, we investigated whether levels of SPD traits were related to audiovisual multisensory temporal processing in a non-clinical sample, revealing two novel findings. First, less precise multisensory temporal processing was related to higher overall levels of SPD symptomatology. Second, this relationship was specific to the cognitive–perceptual domain of SPD symptomatology, and more specifically, the Unusual Perceptual Experiences and Odd Beliefs or Magical Thinking symptomatology. The current study provides an initial look at the relationship between multisensory temporal processing and schizotypal traits. Additionally, it builds on the previous literature by suggesting that less precise multisensory temporal processing is not exclusive to SCZ but may also be related to non-clinical expressions of schizotypal traits in the general population.

Sleep and cognition in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A systematic review protocol.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Carruthers ◽  
Gemma Brunetti ◽  
Susan Rossell
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Systematic Review Protocol ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Review Protocol ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Sleep And Cognition ◽  
The Relationship

Schizophrenia spectrum disorders are chronic and debilitating mental illnesses characterised by both cognitive impairments and sleep deficits. In this systematic review protocol, we outline an approach to examine the available literature investigating the relationship between sleep and cognition in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

Imaging the “social brain” in schizophrenia: A systematic review of neuroimaging studies of social reward and punishment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Mow ◽  
Arti Gandhi ◽  
Daniel Fulford
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Interaction Network ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Social Impairment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Reward ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Social Stimuli ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Reward And Punishment

Decreased social functioning and high levels of loneliness and social isolation are common in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD), contributing to reduced quality of life. One key contributor to social impairment is low social motivation, which may stem from aberrant neural processing of socially rewarding or punishing stimuli. To summarize research on the neurobiology of social motivation in SSD, we performed a systematic literature review of neuroimaging studies involving the presentation of social stimuli intended to elicit feelings of reward and/or punishment. Across 11 studies meeting criteria, people with SSD demonstrated weaker modulation of brain activity in regions within a proposed social interaction network, including prefrontal, cingulate, and striatal regions, as well as the amygdala and insula. Firm conclusions regarding neural differences in SSD in these regions, as well as connections within networks, are limited due to conceptual and methodological inconsistencies across the available studies. We conclude by making recommendations for the study of social reward and punishment processing in SSD in future research.

Does Violence Have Cognitive Correlates?

1987 ◽  
Vol 151 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Robertson ◽  
P. J. Taylor ◽  
J. C. Gunn
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
General Population ◽  
Psychiatric Illness ◽  
Small Extent ◽  
General Intelligence ◽  
Reasoning Ability ◽  
Violent Behaviour ◽  
Cognitive Correlates ◽  
General Ability ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between cognitive function and violence in 76 remanded prisoners, without formal psychiatric illness, was investigated. The violent group tended to be of slightly lower general ability than the non-violent group, but not abnormally so in relation to the general population; no relationship was found between specific patterns of cognitive functioning and violence. The violent group reported significantly higher levels of neurotic symptoms than the non-violent group, and were more socially deviant. To a small extent general intelligence (reasoning ability), in interaction with many other factors, may be related to a propensity for violent behaviour, but no particular aspect of cortical functioning seems to be related to violence.

Insecure attachment is associated with paranoia but not hallucinations in psychotic patients: the mediating role of negative self-esteem

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 1495-1507 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Wickham ◽  
K. Sitko ◽  
R. P. Bentall
Keyword(s):  
Attachment Style ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Insecure Attachment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Attachment Representations ◽  
Co Morbidity ◽  
The Relationship

BackgroundA growing body of research has investigated associations between insecure attachment styles and psychosis. However, despite good theoretical and epidemiological reasons for hypothesising that insecure attachment may be specifically implicated in paranoid delusions, few studies have considered the role it plays in specific symptoms.MethodWe examined the relationship between attachment style, paranoid beliefs and hallucinatory experiences in a sample of 176 people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 113 healthy controls. We also investigated the possible role of negative self-esteem in mediating this association.ResultsInsecure attachment predicted paranoia but not hallucinations after co-morbidity between the symptoms was controlled for. Negative self-esteem partially mediated the association between attachment anxiety and clinical paranoia, and fully mediated the relationship between attachment avoidance and clinical paranoia.ConclusionsIt may be fruitful to explore attachment representations in psychological treatments for paranoid patients. If future research confirms the importance of disrupted attachment as a risk factor for persecutory delusions, consideration might be given to how to protect vulnerable young people, for example those raised in children's homes.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document