title: Delusions and the role of beliefs in perceptual inference.
abstract: Delusions are unfounded yet tenacious beliefs and a symptom of psychotic disorder. Varying degrees of delusional ideation are also found in the healthy population. Here, we empirically validated a neurocognitive model that explains both the formation and the persistence of delusional beliefs in terms of altered perceptual inference. In a combined behavioral and functional neuroimaging study in healthy participants, we used ambiguous visual stimulation to probe the relationship between delusion-proneness and the effect of learned predictions on perception. Delusional ideation was associated with less perceptual stability, but a stronger belief-induced bias on perception, paralleled by enhanced functional connectivity between frontal areas that encoded beliefs and sensory areas that encoded perception. These findings suggest that weakened lower-level predictions that result in perceptual instability are implicated in the emergence of delusional beliefs. In contrast, stronger higher-level predictions that sculpt perception into conformity with beliefs might contribute to the tenacious persistence of delusional beliefs.
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany. katharina.schmack@charite.de
authors: Katharina
authors: K
authors: Schmack
authors: Ana
authors: A
authors: Gòmez-Carrillo de Castro
authors: Marcus
authors: M
authors: Rothkirch
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Sekutowicz
authors: Hannes
authors: H
authors: Rössler
authors: John-Dylan
authors: JD
authors: Haynes
authors: Andreas
authors: A
authors: Heinz
authors: Predrag
authors: P
authors: Petrovic
authors: Philipp
authors: P
authors: Sterzer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003469:Culture; D003702:Delusions / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
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