Project Summary

Barbara L. Schwartz, Ph.D. (Independent Investigator 2003) of Georgetown University, will study implicit processing of emotion cues in the face and the neural structures in the brain that underlie this function in schizophrenia, as individuals with schizophrenia have difficulty identifying facial expression of emotion. Implicit learning is the intuitive process by which subtle regularities and patterns in the environment are learned and allows people to adapt to the world around us and anticipate future responses. Interpretation of facial expressions, and the underlying emotions they convey, is most likely the result of learning experiences. Dr. Schwartz will examine whether people with schizophrenia attend to and learn subtle regularities about the human face (expression, eye, gaze, age) differently than people with schizophrenia. Subjects will be asked to determine the age group of people in pictures shown to them, but unknown to them is that the facial expression of the people in the pictures will covary and be predictive of the correct age group. Implicit learning will be demonstrated by a higher accuracy and faster response time compared to a similar task with no predictive facial information. Dr. Schwartz hypothesizes that implicit learning of structural relations between facial expressions and other environmental features is impaired in schizophrenia. She will also explore what areas of the brain are activated during acquisition of implicit learning by using fMRI, in an effort to identify the network of structures involved.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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