Schizophrenia: Delusion without illusion
October 25, 2005British scientists say schizophrenics aren't fooled by a visual illusion and can judge it more accurately than can non-schizophrenic observers.
The study by University College London and King's College London researchers suggests in everyday life, schizophrenics take less account of visual context. If this is part of a more general failure to deal appropriately with context, it could explain why some sufferers misattribute people's actions or feel persecuted.
The researchers used an illusion in which an object's contrast appears reduced by its surroundings. A medium-contrast patterned disc was shown to volunteers, who had to judge its appearance in the presence of a high-contrast background. Of 15 participants with chronic schizophrenia, 12 were found to make more accurate judgments than the most accurate person in a control group of 33 non-schizophrenic volunteers.
Dr Steven Dakin of the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology says: "We often think of people with schizophrenia as not seeing the world the way it really is -- for example, during hallucinations -- but we have shown that sometimes their vision can be more accurate than non-sufferers."
The study appears in the journal Current Biology,
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
-
Learning left from right
Dec 21, 2011 |
3.8 / 5 (6) |
6
-
Role of gender in workplace negotiations
Sep 26, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Inside story: Chemical reactivity on the inner surface of single-walled carbon nanotubes
Sep 15, 2011 |
4 / 5 (5) |
2
-
Hidden in plain sight: Anthropologist rediscovers Pacific Islands cultural treasures
Feb 21, 2011 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
Fair and accurate elections, statistically speaking
Feb 18, 2011 |
4.4 / 5 (15) |
27
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (30) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
More news stories
A frank discussion of the power law and linking correlation to causation
(PhysOrg.com) -- Michael Stumpf a mathematics professor at Imperial College in London, and Mason Porter a lecturer at Oxford have teamed together to write and publish a perspective piece in Science regarding the in ...
3 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
2
|
The question of life in the ancient world
There’s a general feeling that we don’t get the Greeks – ancient or modern. Many, including heads of state like Angela Merkel, visibly shake their head in exasperation, rightly or wrongly, at ...
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
3 hours ago |
1 / 5 (1) |
2
US workers are 'giving away the store,' costing firms billions
Nearly 70 percent of the nation's service employees give away free goods and services – from hamburgers to cable TV – costing companies billions of dollars a year, according to a groundbreaking study.
Other Sciences / Economics & Business
21 hours ago |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
9
Storm warning: Financial tsunami heading this way
In today's global village, national coffers are more interconnected than ever before. And as the current economic crisis has proven, a downturn in one country can travel in a wave across the globe, like a financial tsunami. ...
Other Sciences / Economics & Business
22 hours ago |
3 / 5 (2) |
7
Chilean miners' rescue capsule on show in London
The capsule used to rescue Chilean miners trapped underground for two months goes on display Saturday at the Science Museum in London -- the first time it has been seen in Europe.
2 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Curry spice component may help slow prostate tumor growth
Curcumin, an active component of the Indian curry spice turmeric, may help slow down tumor growth in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), a study from researchers ...
Netflix light on flicks as viewers soak up TV shows
Like most fresh faces that arrive in Hollywood, Netflix wanted to be a movie star. But now it's learning what many in Tinseltown have known for decades: Movies are sexy, but the real money is in television.
Antidepressants and pregnancy: Women must consider the impact of drugs on baby, and of depression on baby, themselves
Upon learning they are pregnant, most women dutifully nix the alcohol, sushi and caffeine. But what about antidepressants?
Arthritic knees, but not hips, have robust repair response
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center used new tools they developed to analyze knees and hips and discovered that osteoarthritic knee joints are in a constant state of repair, while hip joints are not.
The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males
A new study has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the sexiest ...
Fool's gold may prove an unlikely alternative to overexploited catalytic materials
Catalytic materials, which lower the energy barriers for chemical reactions, are used in everything from the commercial production of chemicals to catalytic converters in car engines. However, with current catalytic materials ...
