Brief rapport: Perceptual aberration in patients at ultra-high risk for psychosis

BackgroundUltra-high risk (UHR) is considered a forerunner of psychosis, but most UHR individuals do not later convert, yet remain symptomatic, disabled and help-seeking. Thus, there is an increased recognition of the UHR phenotype as a syndrome in itself, rather than merely a risk syndrome. It is therefore essential to investigate outcomes other than transition to psychosis. For this purpose, perceptual aberration appears to be a distinct, as well as a stable and less state-specific vulnerability indicator. We aimed to investigate perceptual aberration and associations with functional, neuro and social cognitive risk factors in an UHR sample. MethodOne hundred and twenty UHR and 64 healthy controls were compared on levels of perceptual aberration using the perceptual aberration scale. We further investigated cross-sectional associations between perceptual aberration and CAARMS (as a measure of subthreshold psychotic symptoms) and functional, neuro and social cognitive risk factors within the UHR using Spearmans rho. ResultsPerceptual aberration was significantly higher in UHR than in healthy controls and was associated with social functioning, executive functioning, and emotion recognition. ConclusionOur findings are consistent with a view of perceptual aberration as a stable vulnerability indicator that varies little with clinical state.