Slow Binocular Rivalry as a Potential Endophenotype of Schizophrenia

Abstract

Objectives: Binocular rivalry is a typical example of bistable perception that arises when two monocular images are simultaneously presented to each eye. Binocular rivalry is a heritable perceptual cognitive function that is impaired in patients with schizophrenia (SZ). Despite its potential suitability as a visual endophenotype, binocular rivalry has hardly been studied in the unaffected siblings of schizophrenia (SIB). There is also little research about whether binocular rivalry is a potential visual endophenotype between SZ and SIB.Methods: In our cross-sectional study, we included 40 SZ and their unaffected SIBs, as well as 40 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC). All subjects underwent the binocular rivalry test, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and a battery of cognitive neuropsychological assessments evaluating attention, memory and executive function domains.Results: Our results demonstrate that the switching rate in SZ was significantly slower than in HC (p < 0.001), and compared to the SIB, the mean alternation rates were significantly different (p < 0.01). Moreover, there was a significant difference in mean switching rate between the SIB and the HC (p < 0.001). There was no significant correlation between the alternation rate of binocular rivalry and these cognitive tasks and the PANSS scores.Conclusion: The present study shows that SZ and SIB both exhibit changes in binocular rivalry, with SIB exhibiting intermediate performance compared with that of SZ and the HC. This supports the claim that the switching rate for SZ differs from that of SIB and suggests that binocular rivalry may qualify as a visual endophenotype for SZ.

Intra- and inter-hemispheric processing during binocular rivalry in mild glaucoma

“…It has been shown that in a neurotypical population there is a link between glutamate and GABA levels and rivalry rate, [25] and that higher GABA concentration in the visual cortex leads to a lower rivalry rates. [26] These findings imply that a glutamate and/or a GABA dysregulation in the visual cortex would lead to an abnormal rivalry dynamics; this proposition is supported by research showing lower rivalry rate in neurological disorders associated with GABAergic transmission abnormalities such as bipolar disorder, [27,28] schizophrenia, [29] major depression, [30] attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, [31] and autism spectrum disorder. [25,32] Glutamate excitotoxicity has been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, [33] Alzheimer's disease, and Huntington's disease, [34] but binocular rivalry has not been studied in patients affected by these conditions.…”

Slower and Less Variable Binocular Rivalry Rates in Patients With Bipolar Disorder, OCD, Major Depression, and Schizophrenia

“…Research on the dynamics of bistable perception has clear clinical relevance. Over the past several decades, many studies have consistently shown that subjects with pathological conditions have abnormal patterns of bistable perception compared with healthy subjects (Calvert et al, 1988; Pettigrew and Miller, 1998; Li et al, 2000; Miller et al, 2003; Krug et al, 2008; Nagamine et al, 2009; Robertson et al, 2013; Said et al, 2013; Freyberg et al, 2015; Xiao et al, 2018). One notable example is the slower rate of binocular rivalry alternations observed in patients with bipolar disorder (BD) (Pettigrew and Miller, 1998; Miller et al, 2003).…”

“…Using both binocular rivalry and ambiguous structure-from-motion stimuli, the follow up studies strengthened the proposal that the reduced perceptual alternation rates could serve as an endophenotype of BD-I and bipolar spectrum disorder (Krug et al, 2008; Nagamine et al, 2009; Ngo et al, 2011; Vierck et al, 2013; Law et al, 2015). Moreover, studies have found slower switching dynamics for binocular rivalry in other clinical populations such as patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) (Sappenfield and Ripke, 1961; Fox, 1965; Frecska et al, 2003; Wright et al, 2003; Xiao et al, 2018), first-degree relatives (FDRs) of SCZ patients (Wright et al, 2003), and major depression patients (MD) (Meldman, 1965; Jia et al, 2015). In addition to psychiatric disorders, the slowing of bistable perceptual switching was also observed in migraine patients between migraine events (Wilkinson et al, 2008; McKendrick et al, 2011).…”

Missing the forest because of the trees: slower alternations during binocular rivalry are associated with lower levels of visual detail during ongoing thought

“…Mean dominance duration shows robust and stable individual differences ( Pettigrew and Miller 1998 ), which have previously been shown to be associated with connectivity between regions of parietal cortex ( Baker et al 2015 ), as well as the concentration of inhibitory neurotransmitters (gamma-aminobutyric acid, GABA) in visual regions of the brain ( van Loon et al 2013 ). Dominance durations are also affected by various personality types ( Antinori et al 2017a , b ) and clinical conditions including autism ( Robertson et al 2013 ), bipolar disorder ( Pettigrew and Miller 1998 ; Miller et al 2003 ) and schizophrenia ( Xiao et al 2018 ; Ye et al 2019 ). The second metric was the time when neither percept dominated experience, and so corresponds to the amount of time that participants reported seeing both percepts (mixed).…”