Audiovisual Integration Deficits in Schizotypal Personality and Implications for Populations Diagnosed with Schizophrenia

Some evidence exists for audiovisual speech integration deficits in schizophrenia, but the generality of these deficits is unclear. We sought to characterize these deficits more fully by testing a general student population with varying degrees of schizotypal personality (SP) traits. Audiovisual integration of speech was measured with a McGurk task and non-speech audiovisual integration with a Sound-Induced Flash Illusion task. Visual integration capabilities were measured to determine if deficits were uniquely multisensory. Participants also completed the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), which is predictive of SP traits. We found a negative correlation between SPQ score and performance on both audiovisual integration tasks, and no correlation between SPQ score and visual integration tasks. These findings support the claim that populations diagnosed with schizophrenia and populations with SP traits have a common deficit in a perceptual process and suggest that audiovisual integration deficits in these populations are not specific to speech integration.M.A