Visual Perception in Schizophrenia

Visual Perception in Schizophrenia: Assessing Predictive Processing in the Earliest Stages of the Visual Cortical Hierarchy

This study aims to identify novel markers of psychosis using electroencephalography (EEG).

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Bipolar Disorder; Schizo Affective Disorder; Schizophrenia Disorders
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: EEG measure of visual processing

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 84
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Edmund Lalor, PhD; Phone Number: 585-275-3077; Email: Edmund_Lalor@URMC.Rochester.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • Rochester, New York, United States, 14642
      • Recruiting
      • University of Rochester
      • Contact: Edmund Lalor, PhD; Phone Number: 585-3533824; Email: Edmund_Lalor@urmc.rochester.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• All Subjects
• Aged 18-65
• 20/32 visual acuity or better (using in-house optical correction, if necessary)
• An ability to speak English well enough to complete study assessments and to consent to the study
• Subjects with Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorder
• Meets DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophreniform disorder as confirmed by the Structured Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5).
• Subjects with Bipolar Disorder
• Meets DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder (type I, II, or unspecified) as confirmed by the Structured Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5).

Exclusion Criteria:

• All subjects

• Presence of characteristics that could impair one's ability to comprehend the nature of the study, provide informed consent, or understand the assessment questions, including the following:

  • Subject cannot read and understand the instructions well enough to complete the tasks or cannot provide informed consent.
  • Intellectual impairment (WRAT-5 score < 70) (at the discretion of experimenter);
  • Actively intoxicated, as shown via patient self-report or staff report;
  • Substance use disorder in the past 3 months;
  • Subject considered high risk for suicidal acts (i.e., active suicidal ideation as determined by clinical interview OR any suicide attempt in 30 days prior to screening);
  • Subject violence (involving severe/lethal means or violence occurring in prior 6 months) or extreme agitation.
  • Being in a current manic state
  • Head injury with loss of consciousness greater than 10 minutes (at the discretion of the experimenter).
  • Subject has had electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the past 8 weeks;
  • Diagnosed with a neurological condition (tumor, stroke, brain injury) or neurological disorder, including seizure disorders. Diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder (phone screen or medical records)
  • Lazy eye or squint or other known ocular pathology
• Healthy Control Subjects
• Any lifetime psychotic disorder or history of psychiatric hospitalization (self disclosure);
• Daily antidepressant, mood stabilizer or antipsychotic medication use in the last 6 months, or benzodiazepine use during the prior 2 days (self-disclosure); iii. First-degree relative(s) with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (based on subject self-report) or bipolar disorder.
• Case-match Control Non-ill Subjects
• Any lifetime psychotic disorder (as assessed by SCID/or SSD);
• Recurrent depressive episodes or being in a current depressive episode (as assessed by SCID/or SSD)
• Persistent threshold psychotic symptoms
• History of psychiatric hospitalization;
• Daily antidepressant, mood stabilizer or antipsychotic medication use in the last 6 months, or benzodiazepine use during the prior 2 days
• First-degree relative(s) with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (based on subject self-report) or bipolar disorder.
• Bipolar Subjects
• Persistent threshold psychotic symptoms

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: All participants	Other: EEG measure of visual processing; Non-invasive scalp EEG measure of early cortical visual processing.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
mean amplitude of EEG visual response	Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Rochester
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 3, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 28, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 28, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): April 4, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 12, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 10, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Bipolar and Related Disorders; Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders; Mental Disorders; Mood Disorders; Schizophrenia; Psychotic Disorders; Bipolar Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00007500; R21MH140245 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No