Dataset Information

Speech-on-speech masking and psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia.

ABSTRACT: People with schizophrenia have impairments of target-speech recognition (TSR) in noisy environments with multiple people talking. This study investigated whether the TSR impairment in schizophrenia is associated with their impaired auditory working memory or certain psychotic symptoms. Thirty participants with schizophrenia (mean age?=?35.2?±?12.7?years) and 30 demographics-matched healthy controls (mean age?=?32.9?±?10.9?years) were tested for their TSR against a two-talker-speech masker. Auditory working memory and memory capacity were evaluated using the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) and Digit Span Test. Psychotic symptoms were evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The results showed that participants with schizophrenia had higher TSR threshold (i.e., poorer TSR performance) and poorer PASAT scores than their healthy controls. Moreover, positive correlations (with age, sex, educational years, ill-duration, and dosage of antipsychotics controlled as covariates) were revealed between the TSR threshold and the PANSS-positive syndrome (especially delusion), and between the TSR threshold and the PANSS-negative syndrome (especially lack of spontaneity in speech and passive-apathetic-social withdraw). However, neither the PASAT nor the forward digit span exhibited significant correlations with the TSR. This study provides evidence that the TSR impairment (i.e., augmented vulnerability to informational speech masking), which reflects disorganization of speech information processing (inability in either inhibiting unrelated speech signals or capturing the wanted speech signals), is specifically associated with the severity of delusion, poverty of speech, and hypobulia, suggesting the potential value of the TSR impairment used for predicting certain core symptoms of schizophrenia.

SUBMITTER: Wu C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6007045 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Speech-on-speech masking and psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia.

Wu Chao C Wang Chuanyue C Li Liang L

Schizophrenia research. Cognition 20180306

People with schizophrenia have impairments of target-speech recognition (TSR) in noisy environments with multiple people talking. This study investigated whether the TSR impairment in schizophrenia is associated with their impaired auditory working memory or certain psychotic symptoms. Thirty participants with schizophrenia (mean age = 35.2 ± 12.7 years) and 30 demographics-matched healthy controls (mean age = 32.9 ± 10.9 years) were tested for their TSR against a two-talker-speech masker. Audit ...[more]

PMID: 29928594

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Project description:ObjectivesThis study aimed to evaluate the informational component of speech-on-speech masking. Speech perception in the presence of a competing talker involves not only informational masking (IM) but also a number of masking processes involving interaction of masker and target energy in the auditory periphery. Such peripherally generated masking can be eliminated by presenting the target and masker in opposite ears (dichotically). However, this also reduces IM by providing listeners with lateralization cues that support spatial release from masking (SRM). In tonal sequences, IM can be isolated by rapidly switching the lateralization of dichotic target and masker streams across the ears, presumably producing ambiguous spatial percepts that interfere with SRM. However, it is not clear whether this technique works with speech materials.DesignSpeech reception thresholds (SRTs) were measured in 17 young normal-hearing adults for sentences produced by a female talker in the presence of a competing male talker under three different conditions: diotic (target and masker in both ears), dichotic, and dichotic but switching the target and masker streams across the ears. Because switching rate and signal coherence were expected to influence the amount of IM observed, these two factors varied across conditions. When switches occurred, they were either at word boundaries or periodically (every 116 msec) and either with or without a brief gap (84 msec) at every switch point. In addition, SRTs were measured in a quiet condition to rule out audibility as a limiting factor.ResultsSRTs were poorer for the four switching dichotic conditions than for the nonswitching dichotic condition, but better than for the diotic condition. Periodic switches without gaps resulted in the worst SRTs compared to the other switch conditions, thus maximizing IM.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that periodically switching the target and masker streams across the ears (without gaps) was the most efficient in disrupting SRM. Thus, this approach can be used in experiments that seek a relatively pure measure of IM, and could be readily extended to translational research.

Project description:Patients with schizophrenia are characterized by deficits in their ability to identify facial expressions of emotion, which are associated with impaired social and occupational function. An understanding of the deficits of facial affect recognition (FAR) early in the course of the illness can improve early intervention efforts to ameliorate potential functional deterioration. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics and correlations between psychotic symptoms and FAR deficits in patients with early-stage schizophrenia using data from the Korean Early Psychosis Cohort Study. Patients with schizophrenia were divided into three groups: 1) severely and markedly ill (n = 112), 2) moderately ill (n = 96), and 3) mildly ill (n = 115). These groups were compared with age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The FAR test was developed using Korean emotional faces from the Korean Facial Expressions of Emotion database. Error rates, correct response times, and nonresponse rates of each subset were calculated. Several psychopathology assessments were also performed. There were significantly more deficits associated with the recognition of anger (p < 0.01), fear (p < 0.01), and contempt (p < 0.01) in the three patient groups than in the healthy control group. In the severely and markedly ill states, all emotions apart from surprise had impaired error rates (p < 0.01 for all analyses). The error rates for happiness, sadness, disgust, surprise, and neutral faces were not significantly different between mildly ill patients and healthy controls. All emotions, except for sadness, had significantly more delayed correct response times in all patient groups than in the healthy controls (p < 0.01 for all analyses). The severity of psychotic symptoms was positively correlated with the happiness and neutral error rates, and depression was positively correlated with the happiness error rates. General social function was negatively correlated with the error rates for happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, and surprise. Overall, our results show that the severity of psychosis and clinical symptoms leads to distinct differences in certain emotions of patients with early-stage schizophrenia. It is considered that these specific emotional characteristics will help deepen our understanding of schizophrenia and contribute to early intervention and recovery of social function in patients with schizophrenia.

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Speech-on-speech masking and psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia.

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Speech-on-speech masking and psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia.

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