Unit:
Faculty of MedicineLibrary of the School of Health Sciences
Dissertation committee:
Νικόλαος Σμυρνής, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Χαράλαμπος Παπαγεωργίου, Ομότιμος Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Ελευθερία Τσάλτα, Ομότιμη Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Εμμανουήλ Ρίζος, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Παναγιώτης Φερεντίνος, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Ηλίας Τζαβέλλας, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Αργυρώ Βατάκη, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα ψυχολογίας, Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο
Original Title:
Ψυχοφυσιολογική και νευροφυσιολογική διερεύνηση της πολυαισθητηριακής απαρτίωσης στη σχιζοφρένεια και τον αυτισμό: συγκριτική μελέτη
Translated title:
Psychophysiological and neurophysiological investigation of multisensory integration in schizophrenia and autism: a comparative study
Summary:
The process of integrating information from different sensory channels, known as multisensory integration (MSI) was assessed in two disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Schizophrenia (SCZ). 32 healthy controls (HC), 35 SCZ patients, and 23 ASD patients performed an audiovisual (AV) synchronous target detection task while reaction time (RT) and scalp recorded electrophysiological (EEG) activity were measured. MSI in the AV condition resulted in faster and less variable RTs compared to the unimodal conditions. Using our novel bootstrap method, MSI gain was observed in 78 % of HC, 26 % of ASD, and 48 % of SCZ patients. At the neural level, MSI in the AV condition resulted in larger amplitude of sensory evoked responses and cognitive P3 response compared to the corresponding unimodal conditions. These neural effects of MSI were not related to the behavioural MSI gain identified at the individual level and could not explain the deficits in behavioural MSI of patient groups. In conclusion, a robust MSI gain deficit in RT was observed in both patient groups that was not reflected in early perceptual and cognitive electro-cortical responses, suggesting that behavioural MSI deficits in ASD and SCZ may arise at late processing stages such as response selection.
Main subject category:
Health Sciences
Keywords:
Multisensory integration, Schizophrenia, Autism, Sensory related potentials, Cognitive P3 response, Neurodevelopmental disorders, Bootstrap, Race model inequality
Number of references:
271
