Increased face perception in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis: mechanisms, sex differences, and clinical correlates
Abstract Altered visual perception has been observed across all phases of psychotic illness, suggesting that perceptual measures might be useful in identifying people at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR). In a preliminary study, we found that CHR participants reported perceiving more faces in b...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Schizophrenia |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41537-025-00624-y |
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| author | Tanya Tran Brian P. Keane Judy L. Thompson Ben Robinson Joshua Kenney Trevor F. Williams James A. Waltz Jason A. Levin Eren Kafadar James M. Gold Jason Schiffman Lauren M. Ellman Elaine F. Walker Gregory P. Strauss Vijay A. Mittal Richard E. Zinbarg Philip R. Corlett Albert R. Powers Scott W. Woods Steven M. Silverstein |
| author_facet | Tanya Tran Brian P. Keane Judy L. Thompson Ben Robinson Joshua Kenney Trevor F. Williams James A. Waltz Jason A. Levin Eren Kafadar James M. Gold Jason Schiffman Lauren M. Ellman Elaine F. Walker Gregory P. Strauss Vijay A. Mittal Richard E. Zinbarg Philip R. Corlett Albert R. Powers Scott W. Woods Steven M. Silverstein |
| author_sort | Tanya Tran |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Altered visual perception has been observed across all phases of psychotic illness, suggesting that perceptual measures might be useful in identifying people at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR). In a preliminary study, we found that CHR participants reported perceiving more faces in binarized human portraits on the Mooney Faces Test (MFT). Here, we aimed to replicate these findings and extend understanding of underlying processes and clinical correlates of MFT performance in the Computerized Assessment of Psychosis Risk (CAPR) cohort: CHR (n = 159), help-seeking psychiatric controls (n = 130), and healthy controls (n = 86). The MFT was adapted to include three image conditions (upright, inverted, and scrambled), and included follow-up questions regarding the physical characteristics of the faces that participants reported perceiving, to verify accuracy of perception and assess response bias. The CHR group reported more faces than both control groups in the inverted and scrambled conditions. In addition, the CHR group was as accurate at judging the age and gender of faces as the other groups. Among CHR participants, increased reporting of faces in the inverted condition was significantly correlated with more severe positive symptoms and poorer role functioning. We discuss the findings in terms of multiple perspectives, including changes in perceptual sensitivity, predictive coding, and perceptual organization. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a02efbc3eef548c9adfd50b8d6806465 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2754-6993 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Schizophrenia |
| spelling | doaj-art-a02efbc3eef548c9adfd50b8d68064652025-08-20T01:51:38ZengNature PortfolioSchizophrenia2754-69932025-05-011111810.1038/s41537-025-00624-yIncreased face perception in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis: mechanisms, sex differences, and clinical correlatesTanya Tran0Brian P. Keane1Judy L. Thompson2Ben Robinson3Joshua Kenney4Trevor F. Williams5James A. Waltz6Jason A. Levin7Eren Kafadar8James M. Gold9Jason Schiffman10Lauren M. Ellman11Elaine F. Walker12Gregory P. Strauss13Vijay A. Mittal14Richard E. Zinbarg15Philip R. Corlett16Albert R. Powers17Scott W. Woods18Steven M. Silverstein19Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical CenterDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical CenterDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical CenterDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of MedicineDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Northwestern UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of MedicineDepartment of Psychology, University of GeorgiaDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of MedicineDepartment of Psychological Science, University of CaliforniaDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Temple UniversityDepartment of Psychology and Program in Neuroscience, Emory UniversityDepartment of Psychology, University of GeorgiaDepartment of Psychiatry, Northwestern UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Northwestern UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical CenterAbstract Altered visual perception has been observed across all phases of psychotic illness, suggesting that perceptual measures might be useful in identifying people at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR). In a preliminary study, we found that CHR participants reported perceiving more faces in binarized human portraits on the Mooney Faces Test (MFT). Here, we aimed to replicate these findings and extend understanding of underlying processes and clinical correlates of MFT performance in the Computerized Assessment of Psychosis Risk (CAPR) cohort: CHR (n = 159), help-seeking psychiatric controls (n = 130), and healthy controls (n = 86). The MFT was adapted to include three image conditions (upright, inverted, and scrambled), and included follow-up questions regarding the physical characteristics of the faces that participants reported perceiving, to verify accuracy of perception and assess response bias. The CHR group reported more faces than both control groups in the inverted and scrambled conditions. In addition, the CHR group was as accurate at judging the age and gender of faces as the other groups. Among CHR participants, increased reporting of faces in the inverted condition was significantly correlated with more severe positive symptoms and poorer role functioning. We discuss the findings in terms of multiple perspectives, including changes in perceptual sensitivity, predictive coding, and perceptual organization.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41537-025-00624-y |
| spellingShingle | Tanya Tran Brian P. Keane Judy L. Thompson Ben Robinson Joshua Kenney Trevor F. Williams James A. Waltz Jason A. Levin Eren Kafadar James M. Gold Jason Schiffman Lauren M. Ellman Elaine F. Walker Gregory P. Strauss Vijay A. Mittal Richard E. Zinbarg Philip R. Corlett Albert R. Powers Scott W. Woods Steven M. Silverstein Increased face perception in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis: mechanisms, sex differences, and clinical correlates Schizophrenia |
| title | Increased face perception in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis: mechanisms, sex differences, and clinical correlates |
| title_full | Increased face perception in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis: mechanisms, sex differences, and clinical correlates |
| title_fullStr | Increased face perception in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis: mechanisms, sex differences, and clinical correlates |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increased face perception in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis: mechanisms, sex differences, and clinical correlates |
| title_short | Increased face perception in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis: mechanisms, sex differences, and clinical correlates |
| title_sort | increased face perception in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis mechanisms sex differences and clinical correlates |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41537-025-00624-y |
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