title: How well do patients with schizophrenia track multiple moving targets?
abstract: It has been demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia perform poorly on tasks that require orienting, focusing, maintaining, and shifting attention. However, it is unknown how patients with schizophrenia can track multiple moving targets. To elucidate this issue, the authors investigated fast and slow multiple-object tracking in patients with schizophrenia (n = 30) and in matched healthy control participants (n = 30) and assessed their relationship with motion perception (velocity discrimination), sustained attention and context processing (Continuous Performance Test, 1-9 version; J. R. Finkelstein, T. D. Cannon, R. E. Gur, R. C. Gur, & P. Moberg, 1997), and object and spatial working memory. Results revealed that patients with schizophrenia displayed impaired performances on multiple-object tracking tasks. Linear regression analysis revealed a specific relationship among object tracking, velocity discrimination, and spatial working memory. In patients with schizophrenia, velocity discrimination and spatial working memory were the predictive factors of multiple-object tracking, whereas in healthy control participants, the single predictive factor was velocity discrimination. Probabilistic regression analysis revealed that only the Continuous Performance Test made significant contribution to discriminating between patients and control participants. These results suggest that multiple-object tracking is impaired in schizophrenia, and that it is specifically associated with motion perception and spatial working memory.
authors.affiliation: Bács-Kiskun Country Hospital, Kecskemét, Hungary.
authors.forename: Oguz
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kelemen
authors.forename: Orsolya
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.forename: Adrienne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mátyássy
authors.forename: István
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bitter
authors.forename: György
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benedek
authors.forename: Zoltán
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Vidnyánszky
authors.forename: Szabolcs
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kéri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*