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Embodied and disembodied allocentric simulation in high schizotypal subjects.
Roberta Vastano1, Valentina Sulpizio, Martin Steinisch
1Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio", Via dei Vestini 31, 66100, Chieti, Italy.
Experimental Brain Research
|May 28, 2014
Summary
Individuals with high schizotypal traits show deficits in disembodied perspective-taking (D-PT) tasks, specifically in judging scene appearance. This allocentric simulation deficit was not observed in embodied perspective-taking (E-PT) tasks.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Individuals with high schizotypal personality traits (High-S) and schizophrenia patients exhibit difficulties in judging scene appearance from novel viewpoints.
- This deficit, termed allocentric simulation deficit, is primarily studied in disembodied perspective-taking (D-PT) involving mental self-rotation.
- It remains unclear if this deficit extends to embodied perspective-taking (E-PT) or affects the mental transformation phase itself.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate embodied and disembodied allocentric simulation in healthy volunteers with varying schizotypal personality traits.
- To determine if the allocentric simulation deficit is specific to D-PT or also present in E-PT.
- To examine the role of the mental transformation phase in allocentric simulation deficits.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a virtual reality environment to simulate D-PT (object-cued self-rotation) and E-PT (avatar-cued self-rotation) in healthy participants.
- Assessed schizotypal personality traits using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire.
- Measured reaction times in Appearance and Item tasks following each rotation type.
Main Results:
- No significant differences were found between High-S and Low-S groups during the mental transformation phase for both D-PT and E-PT.
- High-S subjects were significantly slower than Low-S subjects in the Appearance task specifically after D-PT, not E-PT.
- Higher scores on the cognitive-perceptual subscale of schizotypy positively correlated with slower reaction times in the Appearance task post-D-PT.
Conclusions:
- Suggests a specific deficit in disembodied allocentric simulation in non-clinical individuals with high schizotypal traits.
- Highlights that the allocentric simulation deficit may be modality-specific (disembodied vs. embodied).
- Provides a foundation for future research into allocentric simulation deficits in clinical populations like schizophrenia.
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