INSERM, U1028, CNRS, UMR5292, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Psychiatric Disorders: from Resistance to Response Team, Lyon F-69000, France; University Lyon 1, Villeurbanne F-69000, France; Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, Bron, France; Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, USA; Dept. of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, USA.
Schizophr Res. 2019 Apr;206:135-141. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2018.12.001. Epub 2018 Dec 12.
Deficits in auditory processing contribute significantly to impaired functional outcome in schizophrenia (SZ), but mediating factors remain under investigation. Here we evaluated two hierarchical components of early auditory processing: pitch-change detection (i.e. identifying if 2 tones have "same" or "different" pitch), which is preferentially associated with early auditory cortex, and serial pitch-pattern detection (i.e. identifying if 3 tones have "same" or "different" pitch, and, if "different", which one differed from the others), which depends also on auditory association regions. Deficits in pitch-change detection deficits in SZ have been widely reported and correlated with higher auditory disturbances such as Auditory Emotion Recognition (AER). Deficits in serial pitch-pattern discrimination have been less studied. Here, we investigated both pitch perception components, along with integrity of AER in SZ patients vs. controls using behavioral paradigms. We hypothesized that the deficits could be viewed as hierarchically organized in SZ, with deficits in low-level function propagating sequentially through subsequent levels of processing. Participants included 27 SZ and 40 controls. The magnitude of the deficits in SZ participants was large in both the pitch-change (d = 1.15) and serial pitch-pattern tasks (d = 1.21) with no significant differential task effect. The effect size of the AER deficits was extremely large (d = 2.82). In the SZ group, performance in both pitch tasks correlated significantly with impaired AER performance. However, a mediation analysis showed that serial pitch-pattern detection mediated the relationship between simpler pitch-change detection and AER in patients. Findings are consistent with hierarchical models of cognitive dysfunction in SZ with deficits in early information processing contributing to higher level impairments. Furthermore, findings are consistent with recent neurophysiological results suggesting similar level impairments for processing of simple vs. more complex tonal dysfunction in SZ.
听觉处理缺陷对精神分裂症（SZ）的功能预后有显著影响，但介导因素仍在研究中。在这里，我们评估了早期听觉处理的两个层次结构成分：音高变化检测（即识别两个音是否具有“相同”或“不同”的音高），这与早期听觉皮层优先相关，以及音序音高模式检测（即识别三个音是否具有“相同”或“不同”的音高，如果“不同”，则与其他音不同），这也取决于听觉联想区。SZ 中广泛报道了音高变化检测缺陷，并与更高的听觉障碍（如听觉情绪识别（AER））相关。音序音高模式辨别缺陷研究较少。在这里，我们使用行为范式研究了 SZ 患者与对照组的这两种音高感知成分以及 AER 的完整性。我们假设这些缺陷可以在 SZ 中被视为层次化的，低水平功能的缺陷依次通过随后的处理水平传播。参与者包括 27 名 SZ 患者和 40 名对照。在音高变化（d=1.15）和音序音高模式任务（d=1.21）中，SZ 患者的缺陷程度都很大，且无显著的差异任务效应。AER 缺陷的效应量非常大（d=2.82）。在 SZ 组中，两种音高任务的表现与 AER 受损显著相关。然而，中介分析表明，在患者中，序列音高模式检测中介了更简单的音高变化检测与 AER 之间的关系。研究结果与 SZ 认知功能障碍的层次模型一致，即早期信息处理缺陷导致更高水平的损伤。此外，研究结果与最近的神经生理学结果一致，即 SZ 中简单与更复杂的音调功能障碍的处理存在类似的水平损伤。
