The Relationship Between Multisensory Temporal Processing and Schizotypal Traits

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Tyler C. Dalal ◽  
Anne-Marie Muller ◽  
Ryan A. Stevenson

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.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler C. Dalal ◽  
Anne-Marie Muller ◽  
Ryan A Stevenson

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.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talitha C. Ford ◽  
Laila E. Hugrass ◽  
Bradley N. Jack

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.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Carruthers ◽  
Gemma Brunetti ◽  
Susan Rossell

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. e020014
Author(s):  
Monica de Freitas Frias Chaves ◽  
Cilene Rodrigues

High levels of linguistic referential failures are associated with liability to develop schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, and it has been shown that these failures can differentiate healthy subjects, high-schizotypal and schizophrenics groups. Nevertheless, few investigations have focused on whether or not schizotypal traits in nonclinical populations can also impact linguistic reference. In Brazilian Portuguese, only one previous study (acceptability judgements task) had been conducted, and its results suggest association between schizotypal traits and a more rigid preference for assignment of specific readings to definite singular DPs. Here, we present another experimental study in Brazilian Portuguese,  a comprehension task designed to examine possible effects of schizotypal personality traits on the interpretation of definite singular DPs. The findings, in line with the previous results, support the conclusion that schizotypy does affect the interpretation of definite singular DPs in Brazilian Portuguese. Together, these two experiments suggest that schizotypal personality traits impact the integration of linguistic contextual information into the semantic meaning of definite DPs. This is  consistent with the general hypothesis that schizotypy, similarly to schizophrenia, is associated with pragmatic difficulties. Yet, our results emphasize that the impact of schizotypal traits on pragmatics can be observed even in healthy (nonclinical) speakers.


Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Hamblin ◽  
Jennifer Moonjung Park ◽  
Monica S. Wu ◽  
Eric A. Storch

Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often have good insight into the irrational nature of their obsessions and the excessive character of their compulsions, but insight exists along a continuum and is markedly poor in some patients. This chapter reviews the assessment and phenomenological correlates of variable insight in OCD in both pediatric and adult populations. It reviews the definition of insight and its relationship to the evolution of diagnostic criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder, as well as the major assessment tools used to measure and quantify insight for clinical and research purposes. The relationships between insight and clinical characteristics of OCD, including symptom severity, comorbidity, and treatment response are reviewed, followed by a review of neurobiological correlates of insight and the relationship between poor insight and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yujia Zhang ◽  
Sara K. Kuhn ◽  
Laura Jobson ◽  
Shamsul Haque

Abstract Background Patients suffering from schizophrenia spectrum disorders demonstrate various cognitive deficiencies, the most pertinent one being impairment in autobiographical memory. This paper reviews quantitative research investigating deficits in the content, and characteristics, of autobiographical memories in individuals with schizophrenia. It also examines if the method used to activate autobiographical memories influenced the results and which theoretical accounts were proposed to explain the defective recall of autobiographical memories in patients with schizophrenia. Methods PsycINFO, Web of Science, and PubMed databases were searched for articles published between January 1998 and December 2018. Fifty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria. All studies implemented the generative retrieval strategy by inducing memories through cue words or pictures, the life-stage method, or open-ended retrieval method. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Statement guidelines were followed for this review. Results Most studies reported that patients with schizophrenia retrieve less specific autobiographical memories when compared to a healthy control group, while only three studies indicated that both groups performed similarly on memory specificity. Patients with schizophrenia also exhibited earlier reminiscence bumps than those for healthy controls. The relationship between comorbid depression and autobiographical memory specificity appeared to be independent because patients’ memory specificity improved through intervention, but their level of depression remained unchanged. The U-shaped retrieval pattern for memory specificity was not consistent. Both the connection between the history of attempted suicide and autobiographical memory specificity, and the relationship between psychotic symptoms and autobiographical memory specificity, remain inconclusive. Patients’ memory specificity and coherence improved through cognitive training. Conclusions The overgeneral recall of autobiographical memory by patients with schizophrenia could be attributed to working memory, the disturbing concept of self, and the cuing method implemented. The earlier reminiscence bump for patients with schizophrenia may be explained by the premature closure of the identity formation process due to the emergence of psychotic symptoms during early adulthood. Protocol developed for this review was registered in PROSPERO (registration no: CRD42017062643).


2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella G. Giakoumaki

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)


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (19) ◽  
pp. 4604
Author(s):  
Manuel Canal-Rivero ◽  
Rosa Ayesa-Arriola ◽  
Esther Setién-Suero ◽  
Benedicto Crespo-Facorro ◽  
Celso Arango ◽  
...  

Risk of suicidal behaviour (SB) in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) is a major concern, particularly in early stages of the illness, when suicide accounts for a high number of premature deaths. Although some risk factors for SB in SSD are well understood, the extent to which personality traits may affect this risk remains unclear, which may have implications for prevention. We conducted a systematic review of previous studies indexed in MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Embase examining the relationship between personality traits and SB in samples of patients with SSD. Seven studies fulfilled predetermined selection criteria. Harm avoidance, passive-dependent, schizoid and schizotypal personality traits increased the risk of SB, while self-directedness, cooperativeness, excluding persistence and self-transcendence acted as protective factors. Although only seven studies were retrieved from three major databases after applying predetermined selection criteria, we found some evidence to support that personality issues may contribute to SB in patients with SSD. Personality traits may therefore become part of routine suicide risk assessment and interventions targeting these personality-related factors may contribute to prevention of SB in SSD.


Author(s):  
Stefan Fritze ◽  
Fabio Sambataro ◽  
Katharina M. Kubera ◽  
Geva A. Brandt ◽  
Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg ◽  
...  

AbstractThe rapidly evolving field of sensorimotor neuroscience reflects the scientific and clinical relevance of sensorimotor abnormalities as an intrinsic component of the disease process, e.g., in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). Despite previous efforts, however, prevalence rates and relationships between different categories of sensorimotor abnormalities in SSD patients are still subject of ongoing debate. In this study, we examined five different categories of the sensorimotor domain (Neurological soft signs (NSS), parkinsonism, catatonia, akathisia, and tardive dyskinesia) according to well-established clinical ratings scales and the respective cut-off criteria in a sample of 131 SSD patients. We used a collection of statistical methods to better understand prevalence, overlap and heterogeneity, as well as psychopathological and cognitive correlates of sensorimotor abnormalities. 97.7% of the SSD patients considered by this study exhibited at least one categorically defined sensorimotor abnormality that tended to co-vary within three different sensorimotor subgroups (moderate, hyperkinetic and hypokinetic). Finally, hyperkinetic and hypokinetic groups differed significantly in their neurocognitive performance compared with the moderate group. The results suggest different patterns of clinical overlap, highlight the relationship between sensorimotor and cognitive domain and provide clues for further neurobiological studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S181-S182
Author(s):  
Lebogang Phahladira ◽  
Laila Asmal ◽  
Bonginkosi Chiliza ◽  
Hilmar Luckhoff ◽  
Stefan du Plessis ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The relationship between schizophrenia and depression is complex. Longitudinal studies on the course of depression in first episode schizophrenia populations are scarce and there are conflicting results on the predictive value of some baseline measures. Methods We conducted an open label longitudinal cohort study which included 126 patients with first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders treated with long-acting antipsychotic medication over 24 months. Depression was assessed at three monthly intervals using the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia. Changes in depression over time were assessed using the linear mixed-effect models for continuous repeated measures. The relationship between depression and other clinical parameters was assessed with regression models. Results Depressive symptoms were most prominent at baseline and showed highly significant reductions in the first three months (p&lt;0.0001). Majority of the patients with depression improved with antipsychotic medication alone and we found associations between depressive symptoms with insight and poorer quality of life, however only illness awareness (p=0.0035) was the only significant predictor on depression in our regression analysis. There were a few differences between patients who experienced depression during the acute phase of treatment and those in the post-acute phase. Discussion Our findings suggest that depression in schizophrenia is common and generally responds well to treatment. The relationship between depression and insight has implications for further treatment considerations


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