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Experiences of alien control in schizophrenia reflect a disorder in the central monitoring of action

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Christopher D. Frith  and
D. John Done
Christopher D. Frith*
Affiliation:
CRC Psychiatry, Harrow
D. John Done
Affiliation:
CRC Psychiatry, Harrow
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr C. D. Frith, Division of Psychiatry, Clinical Research Centre, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex HA1 3UJ.
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Synopsis

Twenty-three acute psychotic patients who were drug free at the time of testing performed a motor task designed to elicit many errors. Normal subjects and many of the psychotic patients were able to correct these errors in the absence of visual feedback. The ability to make such corrections depends on the subject knowing what response he has just made. Patients with experiences of alien control of their thoughts and actions who formed a subgroup of those classified as schizophrenic, were significantly less likely to make error corrections in the absence of visual feedback. This result is consistent with our previous suggestion (Frith, 1987) that these symptoms are a consequence of problems with the central monitoring of responses.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , May 1989 , pp. 359 - 363
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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