Perceptual training strongly improves visual motion perception in schizophrenia
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Updated: May 29, 2026

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior
Published on: April 16, 2014
Daniel J Norton1, Ryan K McBain, Dost Ongür
1McLean Hospital, Massachusetts, United States. djn@bu.edu
Abstract:
Schizophrenia patients exhibit perceptual and cognitive deficits, including in visual motion processing. Given that cognitive systems depend upon perceptual inputs, improving patients' perceptual abilities may be an effective means of cognitive intervention. In healthy people, motion perception can be enhanced through perceptual learning, but it is unknown whether this perceptual plasticity remains in schizophrenia patients. The present study examined the degree to which patients' performance on visual motion discrimination can be improved, using a perceptual learning procedure. While both schizophrenia patients and healthy controls showed decreased direction discrimination thresholds (improved performance) with training, the magnitude of the improvement was greater in patients (47% improvement) than in controls (21% improvement). Both groups also improved moderately but non-significantly on an untrained task-speed discrimination. The large perceptual training effect in patients on the trained task suggests that perceptual plasticity is robust in schizophrenia and can be applied to develop bottom-up behavioral interventions.
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