Schizotypy is associated with reduced mnemonic precision in visual working memory.

Background: Working memory (WM) maintains a limited amount of information over a short period of time at the service of other ongoing mental activities. Deficits in this function are often observed in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The present study examined whether self-report schizotypy was associated with the qualitative, quantitative, or both aspects of visual WM and whether these impairments could be accounted for by sensory memory deficits and/or depressed mood in a group of non-clinical, medication-naïve participants.

Method: Visual WM and sensory memory were assessed in 164 medication-naïve college students using delayed and immediate color estimation tasks, respectively. Self-report measures of schizotypy and depressed mood were also collected.

Results: Individuals with more schizotypal features retained less precise representations in visual WM, without a significant reduction in the number of retained WM representations (i.e., capacity). In contrast, there was no significant correlation between sensory memory precision and schizotypy, suggesting that schizotypy-related imprecision in visual WM was unlikely a result of imprecise sensory memory. Furthermore, opposite patterns of WM deficits were observed for depressed mood in that it was negatively associated with WM capacity, but not with WM precision.

Conclusion: Together, the present findings demonstrated dissociable WM deficits in schizotypy and depressed mood, providing strong evidence for unstable mental representations in schizotypy and reduced cognitive resource in depressed mood.