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The spatial range of contour integration deficits in schizophrenia

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Abstract

Contour integration (CI) refers to the process that represents spatially separated elements as a unified edge or closed shape. Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder characterized by symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, inappropriate affect, and social withdrawal. Persons with schizophrenia are impaired at CI, but the specific mechanisms underlying the deficit are still not clear. Here, we explored the hypothesis that poor patient performance owes to reduced feedback or impaired longer-range lateral connectivity within early visual cortex—functionally similar to that found in 5- to 6-year old children. This hypothesis predicts that as target element spacing increases from .7 to 1.4° of visual angle, patient impairments will become more pronounced. As a test of the prediction, 25 healthy controls and 36 clinically stable, asymptomatic persons with schizophrenia completed a CI task that involved determining whether a subset of Gabor elements formed a leftward or rightward pointing shape. Adjacent shape elements were spaced at either .7 or 1.4° of visual angle. Difficulty in each spacing condition depended on the number of noise elements present. Patients performed worse than controls overall, both groups performed worse with the larger spacing, and the magnitude of the between-group difference was not amplified at the larger spacing. These results show that CI deficits in schizophrenia cannot be explained in terms of a reduced spatial range of integration, at least not when the shape elements are spaced within 1.5°. Later-developing, low-level integrative mechanisms of lateral connectivity and feedback appear not to be differentially impaired in the illness.

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Notes

  1. For more information on strategies for recruitment, inclusion/exclusion criteria, clinical rater training, clinical assessment of participants, and general testing procedures, see Henderson et al. (2012).

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the following Research Assistants for helping to bring this project to completion: Robin S. Lyons, Yushi Wang, Jamie Joseph (UMDNJ); Emily Thomason, Cindy Feldt, Jennifer Shuite, Melissa Cornejo (Washington University, St. Louis); Sharon August, Leeka Hubzin, Samual Kaiser, Tatyanna Matveeva (MPRC); Dori Henderson, Madelyn Steen, Anna Schnurrer, Joe Lowinske, Lindsay Swanson (Minnesota); and Brittaney Haley (UC-Davis). We also appreciate the input of four anonymous reviewers whose extensive comments improved the manuscript. Funding for this research was provided by the following collaborative RO1s: MH084828-01 to SMS (UMDNJ), MH84840 to DMB (Washington University, St. Louis), MH084826 to CSC and JDR (UC Davis), MH084821 to JG (MPRC), and MH084861 to AM (Minnesota). Support from an F32 (MH094102-01A1) was provided to BPK (UMDNJ/Rutgers) during the write-up of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Schizophrenia Research, University Behavioral HealthCare, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 151 Centennial Ave, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    Brian P. Keane & Steven M. Silverstein

  2. Department of Psychiatry, UMDNJ—Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 671 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    Brian P. Keane & Steven M. Silverstein

  3. Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, 152 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    Brian P. Keane

  4. Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, Box 1125, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA

    Deanna M. Barch

  5. University of California, Davis, 4701 X Street, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA

    Cameron S. Carter & J. Daniel Ragland

  6. Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, P.O. Box 21247, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA

    James M. Gold

  7. Department of Cognitive Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, 1 Egry J. u., Bldg T., Budapest, 1111, Hungary

    Ilona Kovács

  8. Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, N426 Elliott Hall, 75 E. River Rd., Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Angus W. MacDonald III

  9. Department of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44106-7123, USA

    Milton E. Strauss

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  1. Brian P. Keane
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  9. Milton E. Strauss
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Correspondence to Brian P. Keane.

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Keane, B.P., Silverstein, S.M., Barch, D.M. et al. The spatial range of contour integration deficits in schizophrenia. Exp Brain Res 220, 251–259 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-012-3134-4

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