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In this paper we investigated the relation between personality and the rate of perceptual alternations during binocular rivalry. Studies have demonstrated that slower rivalry alternations are associated with a range of clinical conditions. It is less clear whether rivalry dynamics similarly co-vary with individual differences in psychological traits seen across non-clinical population. We assessed rivalry rates in a non-clinical population (n = 149) and found slower rivalry alternations were positively related r(149) = 0.20, p = 0.01 to industriousness, a trait characterized by a high level of self-discipline using the Big Five Aspect Scales (BFAS). Switch rates were also negatively related r(149) = −0.20, p = 0.01 to cognitive disorganization, a schizotypy trait capturing schizophrenia-like symptoms of disorganization using the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE). Furthermore, we showed that that these relations with personality were unaffected by the inclusion or exclusion of mixed percept in the response analysis. Together these results are relevant to theoretical models of rivalry investigating individual differences in rivalry temporal dynamics and they may reduce concerns about the impact of task compliance in clinical research using rivalry as a potential diagnostic tool.

Abnormalities in synaptic plasticity are argued to underlie the neural dysconnectivity observed in schizophrenia. One way to measure synaptic plasticity is through sensory adaptation, whereby sensory neurons exhibit reduced sensitivity after sustained stimulus exposure. Evidence for decreased adaptation in individuals with schizophrenia is currently inconclusive, possibly due to heterogeneity in clinical and medication status across samples. Here we circumvent these confounds by examining whether altered adaptation is represented sub-clinically in the general population. To test this we used three paradigms from visual perception research that provide a precise and non-invasive index of adaptation in the visual system. Two paradigms involve a class of illusory percepts termed visual aftereffects. The third relies on a visual phenomenon termed binocular rivalry, where incompatible stimuli are presented to the two eyes and observers alternate between perceiving exclusively one stimulus or a combination of the two (i.e. mixed perception). We analyzed the strength and dynamics of visual adaptation in these paradigms, in relation to schizotypy. Our results showed that increased schizotypal traits were related to reduced orientation, but not luminance, aftereffect strength (Exp. 1). Further, increased schizotypy was related to a greater proportion of mixed perception during binocular rivalry (Exp. 1 and 2). Given that visual adaption is well understood at cellular and computational levels, our data suggest that short-term plasticity in the visual system can provide important information about the disease mechanisms of schizophrenia.

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