A systematic review and meta-analysis on motion sensitivity in schizophrenia
Abstract
Background: Altered performance in visual perception tasks is well documented in schizophrenia and may offer insight into the neural and computational dysfunction underlying the disorder. Motion perception is among the most extensively studied visual domains, yet it has not been systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed. It therefore remains unclear whether motion sensitivity is robustly impaired in schizophrenia, how large the deficit is, whether it depends on antipsychotic medication, and to what extent it may reflect attentional lapses.
Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched for studies measuring motion sensitivity in individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls. We calculated Hedges’ g for each experimental condition reported within each study (e.g., measuring sensitivity across different stimulus sizes or speeds) and pooled effect sizes using a three-level random-effects meta-analysis.
Results: Across 41 studies (88 effect sizes), patients showed a robust, medium-magnitude deficit in motion-sensitivity (g = 0.59, 95% CI from 0.49 to 0.68, P = 2.7 x 10-20). The deficit was present for both direction and speed discrimination, though task requirements were strongly confounded with stimulus type. We found no evidence that the deficit depended on antipsychotic medication. In the three studies manipulating stimulus size, the deficit was larger for small than large stimuli, consistent with reduced spatial suppression. Evidence did not clearly support a deficit specific to global motion integration. Only two studies estimated attentional lapse rates.
Conclusions: Schizophrenia is associated with a robust deficit in motion sensitivity, with no evidence of dependence on antipsychotic medication. Future studies should systematically account for attentional lapses to determine how much of the observed deficit reflects genuine perceptual impairment. Disentangling task and stimulus parameters, together with systematic manipulation of stimulus size, may help clarify the mechanisms underlying the deficit, including potential alterations in spatial suppression and integration.
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BibTeX
@misc{pozo2026systematic,
title = {{A systematic review and meta-analysis on motion sensitivity in schizophrenia}},
author = {Antonio González-Del Pozo and Cristina de la Malla and Daniel Linares},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/34zmg_v1},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/34zmg_v1/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A systematic review and meta-analysis on motion sensitivity in schizophrenia
AU - Antonio González-Del Pozo
AU - Cristina de la Malla
AU - Daniel Linares
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/10
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/34zmg_v1
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/34zmg_v1/
AB - Background: Altered performance in visual perception tasks is well documented in schizophrenia and may offer insight into the neural and computational dysfunction underlying the disorder. Motion perception is among the most extensively studied visual domains, yet it has not been systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed. It therefore remains unclear whether motion sensitivity is robustly impaired in schizophrenia, how large the deficit is, whether it depends on antipsychotic medication, and to what extent it may reflect attentional lapses. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched for studies measuring motion sensitivity in individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls. We calculated Hedges’ g for each experimental condition reported within each study (e.g., measuring sensitivity across different stimulus sizes or speeds) and pooled effect sizes using a three-level random-effects meta-analysis. Results: Across 41 studies (88 effect sizes), patients showed a robust, medium-magnitude deficit in motion-sensitivity (g = 0.59, 95% CI from 0.49 to 0.68, P = 2.7 x 10-20). The deficit was present for both direction and speed discrimination, though task requirements were strongly confounded with stimulus type. We found no evidence that the deficit depended on antipsychotic medication. In the three studies manipulating stimulus size, the deficit was larger for small than large stimuli, consistent with reduced spatial suppression. Evidence did not clearly support a deficit specific to global motion integration. Only two studies estimated attentional lapse rates. Conclusions: Schizophrenia is associated with a robust deficit in motion sensitivity, with no evidence of dependence on antipsychotic medication. Future studies should systematically account for attentional lapses to determine how much of the observed deficit reflects genuine perceptual impairment. Disentangling task and stimulus parameters, together with systematic manipulation of stimulus size, may help clarify the mechanisms underlying the deficit, including potential alterations in spatial suppression and integration.
ER -