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Apparent motion perception in patients with paranoid schizophrenia

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Abstract

Impaired perceptual inference has been suggested to be at the core of positive symptoms in schizophrenia. Apparent motion (AM) is a visual illusion in which perceptual inference gives rise to the experience of a single object moving back and forth when two spatially separated objects are flashed in alternation. Here, we investigated the strength of AM perception in patients with paranoid schizophrenia. Patients were less susceptible to the illusion as indicated by a lower probability of motion perception at the individual’s optimal presentation frequency for AM. In addition, the probability of AM perception was inversely related to delusional conviction in the patient group. These results suggest that schizophrenia may be associated with a reduced susceptibility to visual phenomena that commonly rely on perceptual inference.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this study was provided by the German Research Foundation (DFG) Emmy-Noether-Program STE-1430/2-1 and Excellency Initiative DFG Grant GSC86/1-2009.

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Correspondence to Lia Lira Olivier Sanders.

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Sanders, L.L.O., de Millas, W., Heinz, A. et al. Apparent motion perception in patients with paranoid schizophrenia. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 263, 233–239 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-012-0344-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-012-0344-5

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