Neurophysiological substrates of configural face perception in schizotypy

Abstract

Face perception is a highly developed function of the human visual system. Previous studies of event-related potentials (ERPs) have identified a face-selective ERP component (negative peak at about 170 milliseconds after stimulation onset, N170) in healthy participants. In contrast, patients with schizophrenia exhibit reduced amplitude of the N170, which may represent a pathological deficit in the neurophysiology of face perception. Interestingly, healthy humans with schizophrenia-like experiences (schizotypy) also exhibit abnormal processing of face perception. Yet, it has remained unknown how schizotypy in healthy humans is associated with the neurophysiological substrate of face perception. Here, we recruited 35 participants and assessed their schizotypy by the magical ideation rating scale. We used high-density electroencephalography to obtain ERPs elicited by a set of Mooney faces (face and non-face conditions).We divided the participants into two groups (high and low schizotypy) by a median split of schizotypy scores.We investigated mean reaction times and the N170 component in response to the stimuli. We found significant slowed reaction times and reduced amplitude of the N170 component in response to the face stimuli in the high-schizotypy group. In addition, across the full data set, we found that the schizotypy scores were significantly correlated with both the reaction times and the N170 amplitude. Our results thus support the model of schizotypy as a manifestation of a continuum between healthy individuals and patients with schizophrenia, where the N170 impairment serves as a biomarker for the degree of pathology along this continuum.

Emotional anticipation for dynamic emotional faces is not modulated by schizotypal traits: A Representational Momentum study

“…Schizotypal traits were assessed with the SPQ, and the sample was divided into high and low SPQ groups by a median split of the total score (e.g., Ahn et al, 2020). With respect to the first-order task, we firstly hypothesized a main effect of Emotion, with higher RM for happy-to-ambiguous than angry-to-ambiguous faces.…”

The Performance of Visual Perceptual Tasks in Patients with Schizotypal Personality Disorder

“…At the same time, clinicians and researchers are uncertain about the boundaries on the continuum of personality pathology and psychotic pathology in SPD (Anderson & Sellbom, 2018;Smulevich, Romanov, Mukhorina, & Atadzhikova, 2017). ere are di erent mechanisms and factors that could lead to a transition from constitutional traits to susceptibility to the development of psychotic disorders: neuroanatomical peculiarities (Dickey et al, 2005;Dickey, McCarley, & Shenton, 2002;Liu et al, 2016), genetic factors (Zouraraki, Karamaouna, Karagiannopoulou, & Giakoumaki, 2017), psycho-physiological mechanisms (Ahn, Lustenberger, Jarskog, & Fröhlich, 2020;Hazlett et al, 2015;Rabella et al, 2016), etc.…”