Increased intra-subject variability in reward behavior relates to symptom severity in schizophrenia
Abstract Schizophrenia (SZ) is a complex disorder characterized by positive and negative symptoms that have been linked to dysfunction in cognition and reward motivation. Recent findings show higher inter-subject variability in SZ in various cognitive functions. This raises the question of whether t...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Schizophrenia |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41537-025-00645-7 |
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| author | I-Fei Chen Yu-Chen Chan Chih-Min Liu Yi-Ting Lin Ming H. Hsieh Tzung-Jeng Hwang Tai-Li Chou Chen-Chung Liu Yi-Ling Chien Georg Northoff |
| author_facet | I-Fei Chen Yu-Chen Chan Chih-Min Liu Yi-Ting Lin Ming H. Hsieh Tzung-Jeng Hwang Tai-Li Chou Chen-Chung Liu Yi-Ling Chien Georg Northoff |
| author_sort | I-Fei Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Schizophrenia (SZ) is a complex disorder characterized by positive and negative symptoms that have been linked to dysfunction in cognition and reward motivation. Recent findings show higher inter-subject variability in SZ in various cognitive functions. This raises the question of whether there is also higher intra-subject variability in SZ at the psychological level, specifically increased variability across the trials of a psychological task within the subject itself, that is, intra-subject variability. To examine fluctuations in behavior during a reward-based discrimination and liking task, we analyzed intra-subject variability in SZ and observed the following: (i) increased intra-subjective variability across all four behavioral measures, that is, response times (RT) for discrimination and liking tasks, as well as accuracy (ACC) and liking ratings; (ii) significant correlation of the different measures’ intra-subject variabilities across the distinct tasks, e.g., RT, ACC, and liking ratings among each other; and (iii) relation of the increased intra-subjective variability in the behavioral measures (RT, ACC, liking) with overall and general psychopathological symptom severity, as measured by the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS). Together, we demonstrate abnormally increased intra-subjective variability in a reward-motivation task in SZ and its key role in relation to symptom severity. This increased intra-subject variability at the psychological-behavioral level suggests abnormal and imprecise timing in cognitive processing, which aligns with analogous findings of temporal imprecision at the neural level. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d223148e6f2b43948549b7f60e8ca48e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2754-6993 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Schizophrenia |
| spelling | doaj-art-d223148e6f2b43948549b7f60e8ca48e2025-08-20T03:45:52ZengNature PortfolioSchizophrenia2754-69932025-08-0111111010.1038/s41537-025-00645-7Increased intra-subject variability in reward behavior relates to symptom severity in schizophreniaI-Fei Chen0Yu-Chen Chan1Chih-Min Liu2Yi-Ting Lin3Ming H. Hsieh4Tzung-Jeng Hwang5Tai-Li Chou6Chen-Chung Liu7Yi-Ling Chien8Georg Northoff9School of Psychology, University of OttawaInstitute of Learning Sciences and Technologies, National Tsing Hua UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan UniversityDepartment of Psychology, National Taiwan UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan UniversityMind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics Unit, Institute of Mental Health Research, Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, University of OttawaAbstract Schizophrenia (SZ) is a complex disorder characterized by positive and negative symptoms that have been linked to dysfunction in cognition and reward motivation. Recent findings show higher inter-subject variability in SZ in various cognitive functions. This raises the question of whether there is also higher intra-subject variability in SZ at the psychological level, specifically increased variability across the trials of a psychological task within the subject itself, that is, intra-subject variability. To examine fluctuations in behavior during a reward-based discrimination and liking task, we analyzed intra-subject variability in SZ and observed the following: (i) increased intra-subjective variability across all four behavioral measures, that is, response times (RT) for discrimination and liking tasks, as well as accuracy (ACC) and liking ratings; (ii) significant correlation of the different measures’ intra-subject variabilities across the distinct tasks, e.g., RT, ACC, and liking ratings among each other; and (iii) relation of the increased intra-subjective variability in the behavioral measures (RT, ACC, liking) with overall and general psychopathological symptom severity, as measured by the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS). Together, we demonstrate abnormally increased intra-subjective variability in a reward-motivation task in SZ and its key role in relation to symptom severity. This increased intra-subject variability at the psychological-behavioral level suggests abnormal and imprecise timing in cognitive processing, which aligns with analogous findings of temporal imprecision at the neural level.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41537-025-00645-7 |
| spellingShingle | I-Fei Chen Yu-Chen Chan Chih-Min Liu Yi-Ting Lin Ming H. Hsieh Tzung-Jeng Hwang Tai-Li Chou Chen-Chung Liu Yi-Ling Chien Georg Northoff Increased intra-subject variability in reward behavior relates to symptom severity in schizophrenia Schizophrenia |
| title | Increased intra-subject variability in reward behavior relates to symptom severity in schizophrenia |
| title_full | Increased intra-subject variability in reward behavior relates to symptom severity in schizophrenia |
| title_fullStr | Increased intra-subject variability in reward behavior relates to symptom severity in schizophrenia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increased intra-subject variability in reward behavior relates to symptom severity in schizophrenia |
| title_short | Increased intra-subject variability in reward behavior relates to symptom severity in schizophrenia |
| title_sort | increased intra subject variability in reward behavior relates to symptom severity in schizophrenia |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41537-025-00645-7 |
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