Higher proneness to multisensory illusions is driven by reduced temporal sensitivity in people with high schizotypal traits

Abstract

A coherent sense of self, typically altered in schizophrenia, is accompanied by a coherent ability to integrate sensory information. According to the idea of a psychosis continuum, high schizotypal traits in the general population may be associated to higher proneness to multisensory illusions, akin to schizophrenia. We directly tested this hypothesis by means of the double-flash illusion in participants with low and high schizotypal scores. We confirmed the higher proneness to illusions in the high-schizotypal group. Crucially, such higher proneness was fully explained by a significantly reduced temporal sensitivity to integrate sensory information. We conclude that reduced temporal sensitivity accounts for enhanced proneness to illusions in people at higher risk and represents an early marker of psychosis.

Keywords: Illusions; Multisensory; Schizophrenia; Schizotypy; Temporal sensitivity; Temporal window of illusion.