Timing dysfunctions in schizophrenia as measured by a repetitive finger tapping task.
Schizophrenia may be associated with a fundamental disturbance in the temporal coordination of information processing in the brain, leading to classic symptoms of schizophrenia such as thought disorder and disorganized and contextually inappropriate behavior. Although a variety of behavioral studies have provided strong evidence for perceptual timing deficits in schizophrenia, no study to date has directly examined overt temporal performance in schizophrenia using a task that differentially engages perceptual and motor-based timing processes. The present study aimed to isolate perceptual and motor-based temporal performance in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia using a repetitive finger-tapping task that has previously been shown to differentially engage brain regions associated with perceptual and motor-related timing behavior. Thirty-two individuals with schizophrenia and 31 non-psychiatric control participants completed the repetitive finger-tapping task, which required participants to first tap in time with computer-generated tones separated by a fixed intertone interval (tone-paced tapping), after which the tones were discontinued and participants were required to continue tapping at the established pace (self-paced tapping). Participants with schizophrenia displayed significantly faster tapping rates for both tone- and self-paced portions of the task compared to the non-psychiatric group. Individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia also displayed greater tapping variability during both tone- and self-paced portions of the task. The application of a mathematical timing model further indicated that group differences were primarily attributable to increased timing--as opposed to task implementation--difficulties in the schizophrenia group, which is noteworthy given the broad range of impairments typically associated with the disorder. These findings support the contention that schizophrenia is associated with a broad range of timing difficulties, including those associated with time perception as well as time production.
Carroll
Christine A
CA
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
O'Donnell
Brian F
BF
Shekhar
Anantha
A
Hetrick
William P
WP
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009043:Motor Activity; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013997:Time Factors; D013998:Time Perception