Effects of typical, atypical, and no antipsychotic drugs on visual contrast detection in schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE Visual contrast detection has been reported in some studies to be normal in schizophrenia patients, but in other studies impairments have been reported. Because contrast detection in the visual processing system is mediated by dopamine, and because the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia involves blocking dopamine postsynaptic receptor sites, the authors investigated the effects of dopamine-blocking antipsychotic drugs on visual contrast detection in schizophrenia. METHOD Visual contrast detection thresholds were measured in healthy subjects and schizophrenia patients receiving typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs; a two-alternative, forced-choice psychophysical method was used. Also included were six patients receiving no antipsychotic treatment as well as clinically unaffected first-degree relatives of the schizophrenia patients. RESULTS Patients receiving atypical antipsychotic drugs showed unimpaired visual contrast detection, those given typical antipsychotic drugs exhibited higher visual contrast detection thresholds, and the unmedicated schizophrenic patients showed visual contrast detection thresholds significantly below those of healthy subjects. CONCLUSIONS Dopamine modulation via D(2) receptor blockade affects sensory processes in schizophrenia, shifting visual contrast detection from hypersensitivity in the unmedicated state to normal and even to hyposensitive levels. Thus, antipsychotic drug treatment may account for the inconsistent reports concerning visual contrast detection in schizophrenia.

[1]  J. Friedman.  Re: Atypical Antipsychotics Mechanisms of Action , 2003 .

[2]  Andrea Antal,et al.  Spatiotemporal visual processing in schizophrenia. , 2002, The Journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences.

[3]  Philip Seeman,et al.  Atypical Antipsychotics: Mechanism of Action , 2002, Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie.

[4]  C. Schroeder,et al.  Dysfunction of early-stage visual processing in schizophrenia. , 2001, The American journal of psychiatry.

[5]  P. Goldman-Rakic,et al.  Reversal of antipsychotic-induced working memory deficits by short-term dopamine D1 receptor stimulation. , 2000, Science.

[6]  J. Dowling,et al.  Effects of Dopamine Depletion on Visual Sensitivity of Zebrafish , 2000, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[7]  P. Seeman,et al.  Rapid release of antipsychotic drugs from dopamine D2 receptors: an explanation for low receptor occupancy and early clinical relapse upon withdrawal of clozapine or quetiapine. , 1999, The American journal of psychiatry.

[8]  K Nakayama,et al.  Dependence of impaired eye tracking on deficient velocity discrimination in schizophrenia. , 1999, Archives of general psychiatry.

[9]  A. Antal,et al.  443 Transient visual channel functions in schizophrenia , 1998 .

[10]  W. Slaghuis,et al.  Contrast sensitivity for stationary and drifting spatial frequency gratings in positive- and negative-symptom schizophrenia. , 1998, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[11]  M. Hankins,et al.  Neurobiology of retinal dopamine in relation to degenerative states of the tissue , 1997, Vision Research.

[12]  M. Tricklebank,et al.  Clozapine inhibits catalepsy induced by olanzapine and loxapine, but prolongs catalepsy induced by SCH 23390 in rats , 1997, Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology.

[13]  P. Stanzione,et al.  Spatial frequency tuning of the monkey pattern erg depends on d2 receptor-linked action of dopamine , 1994, Vision Research.

[14]  I. Bodis-Wollner.  Visual deficits related to dopamine deficiency in experimental animals and Parkinson's disease patients , 1990, Trends in Neurosciences.

[15]  I. Kilpatrick,et al.  Dopaminergic innervation of the primary visual cortex in the rat, and some correlations with human cortex , 1987, Brain Research Bulletin.

[16]  J. Dowling,et al.  Responsiveness and receptive field size of carp horizontal cells are reduced by prolonged darkness and dopamine. , 1985, Science.

[17]  D. Levy,et al.  Eye-tracking dysfunctions in schizophrenic patients and their relatives. , 1974, Archives of general psychiatry.

[18]  Dominic W. Hughes,et al.  Eye-Tracking Patterns in Schizophrenia , 1973, Science.

[19]  J. Robson.  Spatial and Temporal Contrast-Sensitivity Functions of the Visual System , 1966 .

[20]  J. Overall,et al.  The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale , 1962 .

[21]  A. Mcghie,et al.  Disorders of attention and perception in early schizophrenia. , 1961, The British journal of medical psychology.

[22]  K. Nakayama,et al.  Psychophysical isolation of motion processing deficits in schizophrenics and their relatives and its relation to eye tracking deficits , 1999 .

[23]  S Matthysse,et al.  Eye tracking dysfunction and schizophrenia: a critical perspective. , 1993, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[24]  P. Goldman-Rakic,et al.  The anatomy of dopamine in monkey and human prefrontal cortex. , 1992, Journal of neural transmission. Supplementum.

[25]  J. Harris,et al.  The influence of dopamine on spatial vision , 1990, Eye.

[26]  K. Kendler,et al.  The Structured Interview for Schizotypy (SIS): a preliminary report. , 1989, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[27]  L. Maffei,et al.  Dopaminergic drugs improve human visual contrast sensitivity. , 1985, Human neurobiology.

[28]  A. Mcghie.  Attention and perception in schizophrenia. , 1970, Progress in experimental personality research.