Measuring memory-prediction errors and their consequences in youth at risk for schizophrenia

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Cortical circuitry supports a "memory-prediction" function crucial for perception.
• Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia suggest a failure of this memory-prediction function.
• This breakdown may be biologically closer to psychosis onset than other cognitive deficits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the conceptual basis linking memory-prediction deficits to schizophrenia.
• To outline cognitive paradigms for testing memory-prediction function.
• To explore the potential of these tests in predicting psychosis conversion.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on cortical circuitry and memory-prediction.
• Conceptualization of cognitive paradigms to specifically assess memory-prediction.
• Discussion of the application of these paradigms in high-risk populations.

Main Results:

• Memory-prediction function is proposed as a proximal biological cause of schizophrenia.
• Cognitive tests targeting memory-prediction may be sensitive predictors of schizophrenia conversion.
• Identifying pre-psychosis cognitive processes aids in understanding neurobiology.

Conclusions:

• Deficits in memory-prediction function are key to understanding schizophrenia.
• Targeted cognitive assessments can identify individuals at high risk for psychosis.
• This approach may facilitate the development of novel preventative treatments for schizophrenia.