New visual information processing abnormality biomarkers for the diagnosis of schizophrenia

Abstract

Introduction-Schizophrenia is currently diagnosed on the basis of patient reports and clinical observations. A diagnosis based on aetiology is inherently more reliable due to being closer to the disease process than the overt clinical manifestations. Accordingly, recent research in schizophrenia has focused on the development of biomarkers in a bit to improve the reliability and neurobiological relevance of the diagnosis. Visual information processing is one of these promising fields of recent biomarker research.Areas covered-This article provides an overview of the available literature regarding deficits in schizophrenia detectable through psychophysical (contrast and motion sensitivity, visual backward-masking), ERP (P1 and N1 visual evoked potentials) and oscillatory (signal power and phase-locking factor of evoked oscilations) measures and their validity as trait or state biomarkers of the disease. The methodology included a search on articles related to visual information processing in schizophrenia on the PubMed database.Expert opinion-Biomarker research in schizophrenia is a rapidly expanding area. Evidence exists to suggest that both psychotic and manic symptoms are associated with visual processing abnormalities. A specific impairment confined to the magnocellular component of the visual system might be a trait biomarker of schizophrenia.

Comparison of psychophysical, electrophysiological, and fMRI assessment of visual contrast responses in patients with schizophrenia

“…Over recent years it has become clear that patients with schizophrenia exhibit sensory processing deficits in a number of modalities (Javitt, 2009, Koychev et al, 2011, Leitman et al, 2011, Silverstein and Keane, 2011, Butler et al, 2012). Indeed, perception was chosen as one of the key domains for development of measures that could be used in clinical trials in schizophrenia by the NIH-sponsored Cognitive Neuroscience Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (CNTRICS) initiative (Green et al, 2009, Butler et al, 2012).…”

Recent updates of eye movement abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia: A scoping review

“…Furthermore, to unveil insights regarding the complexity of one's eye movement behavior (to process given information), researchers start to record exploratory scan paths during free‐viewing exploration tasks 53, 57–61 . Clarifying aspects of brain circuitry by illustrating the complex interplay between vision and cognition, 62 eye movement measurements are actively performed in interdisciplinary laboratories that integrate contributions from psychology, neuroscience, economy, philosophy and computer science. A vast number of efficient and well‐grounded behavioral experimental paradigms have been generated regarding sincerity, 63 magic‐tricks, 64, 65 judgmental tasks, 66–71 moral dilemma, 72 reading, 73–76 visual search, 77–79 gambling, 80 daily‐life activities, 81–86 problem‐solving, 39, 87–89 learning 90 and discrete choice in clinical decision‐making 91 .…”

Multisensory stimuli elicit altered oscillatory brain responses at gamma frequencies in patients with schizophrenia

“…The task also required that the participants identify the location of the stimulus within a perspective drawing, thereby presenting participants with near and far stimuli which corresponded to both peripherally- and centrally-presented visual stimuli, respectively. Peripherally-presented visual stimuli preferentially activate the dorsal visual stream (Ungerleider and Desimone, 1986 ; Livingstone and Hubel, 1987 ; Stephen et al, 2002 ) which is impaired in schizophrenia (Butler and Javitt, 2005 ; Koychev et al, 2011 ). Therefore, we hypothesized that patients would show greater deficits in gamma-band power in response to peripheral (dorsal stream) visual stimuli relative to central (ventral stream) visual stimuli.…”