Department of Physiology, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences (CMMS), Arabian Gulf University (AGU), Manama, Bahrain.
Ministry of Health (MOH), Manama, Bahrain.
PLoS One. 2022 Dec 1;17(12):e0278718. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278718. eCollection 2022.
Patients with schizophrenia are reported to have vestibular dysfunction and to weigh vestibular input to a lesser extent compared to healthy controls. Such deficits may increase visual dependence (VD) for spatial orientation at a perceptual level in these patients. The aim of this study is to compare VD levels between healthy control and patients with schizophrenia and to explore associations between VD and clinical measures in these patients. Relation of VD to antipsychotic drug treatment is also discussed.
18 patients with schizophrenia and 19 healthy controls participated in this study. The Rod and Disc Test (RDT) was used to create an optokinetic surround around a centrally located rod. Participants aligned the rod to their subjective visual vertical (SVV) in both static and dynamic disc conditions. VD was calculated as the difference in SVV between these two conditions.
There was no group difference or gender difference in static or dynamic SVV as well as VD. There was no correlation between VD and any of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores, however VD was significantly correlated to illness duration in the patient group.
Schizophrenia is not associated with greater VD levels at a perceptual level, compared to controls, indicating adequate visuo-vestibular integration for judging line verticality in these patients. Patients with greater chronicity of the disease are more visually dependent than those less chronically ill, consistent with previous reports of possible vestibular dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia. This may affect their daily functioning in dynamic visual environments.
据报道，精神分裂症患者存在前庭功能障碍，与健康对照组相比，他们对前庭输入的重视程度较低。这些缺陷可能会增加这些患者在感知层面上对视觉的依赖（VD），从而影响其空间定向。本研究旨在比较健康对照组和精神分裂症患者的 VD 水平，并探讨这些患者的 VD 与临床测量之间的关系。还讨论了 VD 与抗精神病药物治疗的关系。
本研究纳入了 18 名精神分裂症患者和 19 名健康对照者。采用棒和盘测试（RDT）在中央位置的棒周围创建视动刺激。参与者在静态和动态盘条件下将棒与他们的主观垂直视觉（SVV）对齐。VD 计算为这两种条件下 SVV 的差异。
在静态或动态 SVV 以及 VD 方面，患者组和对照组之间均无组间差异或性别差异。然而，VD 与阳性和阴性症状量表（PANSS）评分之间无相关性，但与患者组的疾病持续时间显著相关。
与对照组相比，精神分裂症患者在感知层面上并没有更高的 VD 水平，这表明这些患者在判断线垂直性方面具有足够的视-前庭整合能力。疾病持续时间较长的患者比慢性程度较低的患者更依赖视觉，这与精神分裂症患者可能存在前庭功能障碍的先前报道一致。这可能会影响他们在动态视觉环境中的日常功能。
