Aging and visual motion discrimination in normal adults and schizophrenia patients

Motion perception is impaired in many neuropathological conditions, including schizophrenia. Motion perception also declines in the course of normal aging. In this study, we ask whether aging is an additive factor in the motion-discrimination deficits of schizophrenia patients. We examined motion perception in schizophrenia patients (n = 44) and non-psychiatric controls (n = 40) whose ages ranged from 18 to 55. The tasks included velocity discrimination and contrast detection. Thresholds for each of the two tasks were determined for each subject using psychophysical methods. Schizophrenia patients showed significantly increased thresholds (degraded performance) for velocity discrimination compared with the controls. Degraded performance in patients was not related to age. In controls, however, velocity discrimination thresholds were significantly increased beginning by age 45. Performance on a contrast-detection task, which does not require precise discrimination of motion signals, was not significantly affected by age in either group. Aging, even in its early stages, degrades motion discrimination in normal adults. Aging, however, does not adversely affect motion-discrimination deficits in schizophrenia patients through age 55. A similar motion-discrimination deficit in schizophrenia patients and aging normal adults suggests that the mechanisms underlying motion processing in schizophrenia and normal aging may be associated.