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Reduced multisensory integration in patients with schizophrenia on a target detection task
Lisa E Williams1, Gregory A Light, David L Braff
1Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, CA, United States. lewilliams1@gmail.com
Neuropsychologia
|July 6, 2010
Summary
Patients with schizophrenia exhibit impaired multisensory integration (MSI), specifically reduced reaction time (RT) facilitation for bimodal stimuli. This deficit correlates with negative symptoms and the presence of both auditory and visual hallucinations.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Impaired multisensory integration (MSI) is increasingly recognized in schizophrenia.
- Intersensory facilitation of reaction times (RTs), where bimodal stimuli are detected faster than unimodal stimuli, is a fundamental measure of MSI.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate intersensory facilitation of RTs in patients with schizophrenia compared to non-psychiatric individuals.
- To explore the relationship between MSI, negative symptoms, and hallucinations in schizophrenia.
Main Methods:
- Assessed RTs for unimodal (auditory alone, visual alone) and bimodal (auditory+visual) targets in 20 schizophrenia patients and 20 controls.
- Compared RT distributions to assess RT facilitation, controlling for unimodal RT differences.
Main Results:
- Schizophrenia patients demonstrated significantly less RT facilitation for bimodal targets compared to controls.
- Reduced facilitation correlated with greater negative symptom severity within the schizophrenia group.
- Patients experiencing both auditory and visual hallucinations showed more pronounced MSI deficits than those with single-modality hallucinations.
Conclusions:
- Schizophrenia is associated with a basic deficit in multisensory integration, specifically reduced reaction time facilitation.
- Negative symptoms and cross-modal hallucinations exacerbate MSI impairments in schizophrenia.
