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Instability of visual error processing for sensorimotor adaptation in schizophrenia

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European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Saccadic adaptation can be used to study disturbances of sensory processing and motor learning. We investigated whether patients with schizophrenia can adjust saccadic amplitudes to account for an increase in visual error while the saccade is in flight, and whether they transfer this change to a visuo-manual localization task. Fourteen patients (mean 37.1 years) and 14 healthy controls (mean 35.1 years) performed 200 adaptation trials of 10° with target shifts of 4° in the outward direction. We determined the percent amplitude change during adaptation and adaptation speed. In addition, subjects localized a stimulus that was flashed 50 ms after saccade target onset to measure the transfer of change in visual space perception to visuo-manual coordination. Eye movements were recorded at 1000 Hz. Saccade amplitudes increased over adaptation trials by 11 % (p < 0.001) similarly in both groups. Amplitude variability during adaptation was higher in patients (1.06° ± 0.32°) than in controls (0.71° ± 0.14°; p = 0.001), while adaptation speed was slower in patients (0.02 ± 0.03) than in controls (0.11 ± 0.11; p = 0.01). Other pre- and post-adaptation saccade metrics did not differ between groups. The adaptation process shifted localization of the flashed target in the adaptation direction similarly in both groups. The use of error signals for the internal recalibration of sensorimotor systems and the transfer of this recalibration to visual space perception appear basically unimpaired in schizophrenia. Higher amplitude variability in patients suggests a certain instability of saccadic control in cerebellar systems. Patients seem to rely on visual error processing in frontal circuitry, resulting in slower adaptation speeds, despite unimpaired adaptation strength.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all patients and healthy controls for their willingness to participate in this neurophysiological study. We thank Sebastian Arnold for his assistance in recruitment procedures and data assessment and Hugh Riddell for critical editing of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Muenster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Geb. A9, 48149, Muenster, Germany

    Rebekka Lencer & Karen Silling

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany

    Annegret Meermeier, Svenja Gremmler & Markus Lappe

  3. Otto-Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany

    Rebekka Lencer, Annegret Meermeier & Markus Lappe

Authors
  1. Rebekka Lencer
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  2. Annegret Meermeier
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Correspondence to Rebekka Lencer.

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Lencer, R., Meermeier, A., Silling, K. et al. Instability of visual error processing for sensorimotor adaptation in schizophrenia. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 267, 237–244 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-016-0716-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-016-0716-3

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