title: Self-face recognition in the ultra-high risk for psychosis population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Phenomenological research indicates that disturbance of the basic sense of self may be a core phenotypic marker of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Self-face recognition (SFR) is an experimental paradigm which can assess the basic sense of self. In this study, we used SFR to determine whether basic self-disturbance is present in the ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis population at the perceptual level.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-three UHR individuals and 23 healthy comparison subjects were administered the SFR task. The study consisted of a 2 × 3 × 2 design: two group levels (UHR for psychosis group and the healthy comparison group); three task levels (self-famous task, self-stranger task, famous-stranger task); and two hand levels (left hand and right hand). Threshold limit values in face recognition were analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analysis indicated effects for group (F(1, 43) = 5.197, P < 0.05) and interaction effects between group and task (F = 4.767, P < 0.05). An independent samples t-test was used to compare the threshold limit values of the same task between the two groups. For self-famous task, the threshold limit values of the UHR group were higher than those of healthy group both in the left and right hands (t = 2.734, P < 0.05; t = 2.864, P < 0.05), but no significant difference was found in self-stranger task and famous-stranger task (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This SFR study indicates that basic self-disturbance is present in the UHR for psychosis at the behavioural level in comparison with a healthy comparison group.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: HongXiao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: JingMing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Barnaby
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D000066499:Facial Recognition; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D062706:Prodromal Symptoms; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: prodrome; schizophrenia; self-face recognition; ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis