Neuroscience 2004 Abstract
| Presentation Number: | 347.11 |
|---|---|
| Abstract Title: | Evidence for reflexive but not voluntary attentional priming deficits in schizophrenia. |
| Authors: |
Babin, S. L.*1
; Wassef, A. A.2
; Briand, K. A.1
; Sereno, A. B.1
1Neurobiology & Anat., Univ Texas at Houston Hlth Sci Ctr, Houston, TX 2TX, MSB Rm 7.203, 77030, |
| Primary Theme and Topics |
Neurological and Psychiatric Conditions - Psychiatric Disorders -- Schizophrenia--Functional defecits |
| Session: |
347. Schizophrenia: Functional Deficit II Poster |
| Presentation Time: | Sunday, October 24, 2004 3:00 PM-4:00 PM |
| Location: | San Diego Convention Center - Hall A-H, Board # YY3 |
| Keywords: | schizophrenia, priming, reflexive, attention |
We were interested in the role that attention might play in disordered thought processes frequent in schizophrenia. Specifically, we wanted to examine the role of reflexive and voluntary attentional processes in the semantic domain by using a category-switching technique based on Neely’s 1977 work with normal subjects.
Experiment 1: We tested 20 schizophrenic patients (SzP) and 20 controls on a lexical decision task. Probe words were either from 1 of 2 possible categories (Animal or Body Part) or pronounceable nonwords. Prime stimuli were the words Animal, Body Part, or Neutral. The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between prime and probe was either short (250 msec) or long (2000 msec). SzP and controls were told to expect words to mismatch; in other words, when Animal was the prime then a type of body part would follow as the probe, and vice versa. At short SOAs, SzP showed greater benefit than control subjects in reaction times to the probe when prime and probe words were related, indicating hyper-reflexivity.
Experiment 2: We tested another 20 SzP and 20 control subjects in the same experimental paradigm as before except this time, we used the more distinct categories Animal and Clothing. Again, our SzP exhibited greater benefit in response times than control subjects at the short SOA when prime and probe words were categorically related. They also showed evidence of voluntary attentional control as shown by the loss of reflexive priming to the related but unexpected words at the long SOA. In conclusion, these results suggest that disruptions in verbal processing, as seen in schizophrenia, may be due to hyper-reflexive attentional processing.
Experiment 1: We tested 20 schizophrenic patients (SzP) and 20 controls on a lexical decision task. Probe words were either from 1 of 2 possible categories (Animal or Body Part) or pronounceable nonwords. Prime stimuli were the words Animal, Body Part, or Neutral. The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between prime and probe was either short (250 msec) or long (2000 msec). SzP and controls were told to expect words to mismatch; in other words, when Animal was the prime then a type of body part would follow as the probe, and vice versa. At short SOAs, SzP showed greater benefit than control subjects in reaction times to the probe when prime and probe words were related, indicating hyper-reflexivity.
Experiment 2: We tested another 20 SzP and 20 control subjects in the same experimental paradigm as before except this time, we used the more distinct categories Animal and Clothing. Again, our SzP exhibited greater benefit in response times than control subjects at the short SOA when prime and probe words were categorically related. They also showed evidence of voluntary attentional control as shown by the loss of reflexive priming to the related but unexpected words at the long SOA. In conclusion, these results suggest that disruptions in verbal processing, as seen in schizophrenia, may be due to hyper-reflexive attentional processing.
Supported by NARSAD, NIH (R01 MH63340 and R01 MH65492), and NRSA 5 T32 NS41226
Sample Citation:
[Authors]. [Abstract Title]. Program No. XXX.XX. 2004 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. San Diego, CA: Society for Neuroscience, 2004. Online.
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