A visual scanpath study of facial affect recognition in schizotypy and social anxiety

Impaired social functioning is one of the earliest signs of the development of schizophrenia and is a predictor of treatment outcome, recidivism, and quality of life. Previous research demonstrates the association between impaired social functioning and impaired facial affect recognition (FAR). Impaired FAR has been consistently found in schizophrenia, although the specificity and underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. FAR has not been thoroughly investigated in high-risk populations. The current study used a psychometric high-risk approach to examine FAR in schizotypal (n = 30), socially anxious (n = 28), and normal (n = 44) college students. Schizotypes were identified using the Perceptual Aberration and Magical Ideation Scales, and socially anxious subjects were identified using the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale. Subjects completed FAR labeling and matching tasks and a control task involving matching complex geometric figures. Participants' visual scanpaths (VSPs) were measured during these tasks using an infrared eye tracking technique. VSPs represent an index of visual attention and information processing strategy. Prior research demonstrates that the VSPs of schizophrenic subjects during face viewing differ from controls. Subjects also completed tests of face recognition, visual attention, smooth pursuit eye movements, and a variety of psychometric measures. Schizotypes were not impaired on overall FAR relative to controls. Schizotypes were impaired in recognizing fearful faces relative to normal controls and the pooled control group. The impaired fear recognition observed among schizotypes appears to represent a specific deficit, as it was not due to an overall performance deficit, task difficulty, or impaired ability to process facial stimuli. Socially anxious subjects did not differ from controls on FAR. In terms of visual scanning during FAR, there was a trend toward schizotypes differing from normal controls on 3 of 5 variables (number of fixations, number of saccades, and scanpath distance). VSPs were correlated with FAR among schizotypes. However, contrary to prediction, schizotypes scanned the faces in a manner associated with good FAR performance. Therefore, the impaired FAR found among schizotypes was not due to abnormal visual scanning. Impaired fear recognition may represent a marker of psychosis proneness that is unrelated to established neurocognitive markers of liability, such as oculomotor functioning and sustained attention.