Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026
13:51
Cross-Modal Multivariate Pattern Analysis
Published on: November 9, 2011
Circular inference in visual cortical hierarchies in schizophrenia
Shuhei Hara1,2, Keita Suzuki3, Akio Murakami4,5,6
1Neural Computation Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, Japan.
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences
|July 15, 2026
Summary
Schizophrenia patients show increased top-down visual cortex activity, suggesting altered perceptual processing. This neuroimaging study used Bayesian models and fMRI to explore visual hierarchy abnormalities in schizophrenia.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Disrupted perceptual processes, particularly in visual cortices, are linked to positive symptoms in schizophrenia.
- The precise representation of top-down priors and bottom-up likelihoods across the visual hierarchy in schizophrenia remains poorly understood.
- The circular inference model provides a framework for understanding biased integration of priors and likelihoods, potentially explaining hallucinations and delusions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural representation of top-down priors and bottom-up likelihoods across the visual hierarchy in individuals with schizophrenia.
- To utilize a model-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) approach to identify abnormalities in visual perceptual processing.
Main Methods:
- Functional MRI (fMRI) was employed on 21 participants (10 schizophrenia patients, 11 healthy controls) performing a perceptual decision-making task.
- Participants received probabilistic hints, viewed blurred images, and reported object identity and confidence.
- Bayesian perception models were used to derive variables for top-down prior and bottom-up likelihood, which were then analyzed with fMRI data.
Main Results:
- Region of interest (ROI) analysis revealed significantly enhanced top-down-related activity throughout the visual cortex in schizophrenia patients compared to healthy controls.
- Exploratory ROI analyses indicated increased bottom-up-related activity in early visual areas (V1, V2) correlating with higher delusion scores in individuals with schizophrenia.
Conclusions:
- Model-based fMRI analysis provides evidence for enhanced top-down activity across the visual hierarchy in schizophrenia.
- Findings suggest altered circular information flow in the visual cortex, highlighting the utility of model-based neuroimaging for detecting latent perceptual processing abnormalities.
- Exploratory results hint at a possible link between bottom-up hypersensitivity and delusional ideation, though further research is needed.
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