Evolving or unchanged? Investigating perceptual profiles over time in psychosis and comparing with healthy controls

There is a growing body of evidence indicating altered perceptual profiles in psychosis, which can be assessed by evaluating exteroceptive (e.g., auditory and visual) and interoceptive (e.g., heartbeat and breathing) sensory processing through self-administered questionnaires. However, the unexplored question remains whether perceptual alterations depend on the phase of illness. In this observational, STROBE-compliant study, we adopted the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA; eight domains), Adult/Adolescent Sensory Profile (AASP; four domains), and Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) to measure interoception, exteroception, and symptom severity, respectively. Our primary aim was to compare MAIA, AASP, and PANSS differences in patients with psychosis (PSY patients) between post-acute (PSY-T1) and remission phases (PSY-T2). Student’s t-tests or Wilcoxon paired-sample tests were used based on the variable distribution. MAIA/AASP data were also collected from healthy controls (HCs). As a secondary aim, we examined MAIA/AASP differences between PSY-T1/T2 and HC using MANOVA and Mann–Whitney tests. Bonferroni–Holm correction was implemented. Data were collected from 23 PSY patients (55% females; mean age: 38.35 ± 12.46 years) and 210 HC (46% females; mean age: 39.81 ± 13.78 years). No differences were found between PSY-T1 and PSY-T2 (Bonferroni–Holm P > 0.05) for MAIA/AASP scores, while PANSS total and positive scores were higher in PSY-T1 compared to PSY-T2, with Bonferroni–Holm p-values of 0.032 and 0.045, respectively. Although MAIA/AASP domains (noticing/body listening and low registration) were increased in PSY-T1 compared to HC, no differences were observed between PSY-T2 and HC. The heterogeneous results in the literature regarding perceptual profiles should be contextualized by considering that fluctuations in patients with psychosis can become significant when compared to the general population.