Visual perception and working memory in schizotypal personality disorder.
OBJECTIVE
Patients affected by schizophrenia show deficits in both visual perception and working memory. The authors tested early-stage vision and working memory in subjects with schizotypal personality disorder, which has been biologically associated with schizophrenia.


METHODS
Eleven subjects who met DSM-III-R criteria for schizotypal personality disorder and 12 normal comparison subjects were evaluated. Performance thresholds were obtained for tests of visual discrimination and working memory. Both form and trajectory processing were evaluated for each task.


RESULTS
Subjects with schizotypal personality disorder showed intact discrimination of form and trajectory but were impaired on working memory tasks.


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that subjects with schizotypal personality disorder, unlike patients affected by schizophrenia, have relatively intact visual perception. Subjects with schizotypal personality disorder do show specific deficits on tasks of comparable difficulty when working memory demands are imposed. Schizotypal personality disorder may be associated with a more specific visual processing deficit than schizophrenia, possibly reflecting disruption of frontal lobe systems subserving visual working memory operations.
Farmer
C M
CM
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, MA, USA.
O'Donnell
B F
BF
Niznikiewicz
M A
MA
Voglmaier
M M
MM
McCarley
R W
RW
Shenton
M E
ME
D000328:Adult; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D009039:Motion Perception; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D014796:Visual Perception