Multisensory temporal processing in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: Implications for positive symptoms.

Poster Session D - Monday, April 15, 2024, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Maria Bianca Amadeo¹ (mariabianca.amadeo@iit.it), Andrea Escelsior^2,3, Davide Esposito¹, Alberto Inuggi³, Beatriz Pereira da Silva^2,3, Gianluca Serafini^2,3, Mario Amore³, Monica Gori¹; ¹Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy, ²IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy, ³DINOGMI, University of Genoa, Italy

Structuring sensory events in time is essential for interacting with the environment and producing adaptive behaviors. Over the past years, the microstructure of temporality received increasing attention, recognized as a fundamental element of consciousness itself, whose alteration can underlie the etiopathogeneses of some clinical symptoms in psychiatric disorders. The present research investigated multisensory temporal processing in patients with schizophrenia (N=21), bipolar disorder (N=20) and healthy controls (N=21) in order to explore a plausible link between alterations in temporal binding of events and psychopathological dimensions. We asked participants to temporally order audio-tactile, visual-tactile, and audio-visual stimuli, and we administered different psychopathological scales to explore depressive, manic and psychotic symptoms underlying the diseases. Results demonstrated that both patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are less precise in temporal processing independently of the sensory modalities involved, suggesting higher tolerance towards multisensory temporal asynchronies. Interestingly, reduced precision in temporal processing of patients is positively associated with the presence and severity of positive symptoms. Our findings support the hypothesis that low-level sensory alterations in temporal processing may be essential for the construction of holistic higher-level representations. Abnormal binding of temporal events could result in fragmented perceptions, subsequently contributing to the emergence of clinical symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized behaviors.

Topic Area: PERCEPTION & ACTION: Multisensory