INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 02 Program Schedule 02/15/2024 08:00 am - 09:15 am Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60) Poster Session 02: Aging \| MCI \| Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 1 Final Abstract #50 Assessing Pareidolic Tendencies in Persons with Parkinson’s Disease and Healthy Adults: An Online Survey Shraddha Kinger, Boston University, Boston, United States Hae In Kim, Boston University, Boston, United States Victoria Calandrino, Boston University, Boston, United States Gabriel Cronin-Golomb, Boston University, Boston, United States Alice Cronin-Golomb, Boston University, Boston, United States Category: Movement and Movement Disorders Keyword 1: Parkinson's disease Keyword 2: visuospatial functions Objective: Unusual perceptual experiences (UPE) such as visual hallucinations (VH) in persons with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD) have been associated with abnormal visual processing. PwPD who report VH typically exhibit compromised visual object perception and contrast sensitivity. A potential perceptual marker of VH in PD is pareidolia, which is the tendency to see meaning in meaningless images. We hypothesized that PwPD would exhibit more pareidolic tendencies than healthy adults, and that pareidolia would be associated with other potential markers of VH in PwPD, such as specific demographic and clinical characteristics (e.g., age, disease duration), difficulties under low-contrast conditions, mood, and cognition. We compared performance on two tests of pareidolia to evaluate their relative utility. Participants and Methods: 25 PwPD and 76 healthy young adults (YA) took an online survey, responding to two tests of pareidolia that we adapted for online administration: the Noise Pareidolia Test (NPT; faces embedded in noise) and the Mooney Face Stimuli for Vision Perception Research (Mooney-VP; faces inferred from fragments). For the NPT, half of the test items were made low contrast, in order to enhance difficulty and preclude ceiling effects; 8% for YA and 43% for PwPD based on our previous work matching proximal contrast across groups. For both tests, responses were recorded as either correct, missed (not identifying a face that was in fact present), or pareidolic (identifying a face where in fact there was none). PwPD also responded to the Non-Motor Symptom Questionnaire, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale, Parkinson Anxiety Scale, Quality of Life in Neurological Conditions (Neuro-QOL) Cognition sub-scale, Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-8 (PDQ-8), and questions about UPE. Independent sample t-tests compared pareidolia scores between groups. Pearson correlations examined the associations between pareidolic responses on the NPT (overall, low-contrast and high-contrast scores) and the Mooney-VP. For PwPD, correlations were also conducted between pareidolia scores and demographic and clinical characteristics, mood, cognition, and quality of life. Results: PwPD had higher pareidolia scores on the NPT (overall, low-contrast and high-contrast scores) than YA (all p<.05). For pareidolic responses, there was a significant, positive correlation between the Mooney-VP and the overall, low-contrast, and high-contrast NPT for both PwPD and YA (all p≤.002). For PwPD, higher overall pareidolia scores on the NPT correlated with poorer quality of life scores on the PDQ-8 (r=.44, p=.03) but not with demographic or clinical characteristics, or with scores on the measures of mood or cognition. Conclusions: The NPT and Mooney-VP adapted for online administration allowed for quick collection of data on pareidolia, an unusual perceptual experience expected to be a marker of VH in PwPD. For both groups, there was a substantial correlation between pareidolic responses on the two tests, supporting their reciprocal validity. As hypothesized, PwPD exhibited higher pareidolic tendencies than YA. For PwPD, higher pareidolic tendencies were associated with poorer quality of life. We plan to increase the sample of PwPD and also administer the tests to healthy age-matched older adults to examine further variables that may serve as markers for UPE in PwPD.

Poster

02/15/2024
08:00 am - 09:15 am
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)

Poster Session 02: Aging | MCI | Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 1

Final Abstract #50

Assessing Pareidolic Tendencies in Persons with Parkinson’s Disease and Healthy Adults: An Online Survey

Shraddha Kinger, Boston University, Boston, United States
Hae In Kim, Boston University, Boston, United States
Victoria Calandrino, Boston University, Boston, United States
Gabriel Cronin-Golomb, Boston University, Boston, United States
Alice Cronin-Golomb, Boston University, Boston, United States

Category: Movement and Movement Disorders

Keyword 1: Parkinson's disease
Keyword 2: visuospatial functions

Objective:

Unusual perceptual experiences (UPE) such as visual hallucinations (VH) in persons with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD) have been associated with abnormal visual processing. PwPD who report VH typically exhibit compromised visual object perception and contrast sensitivity. A potential perceptual marker of VH in PD is pareidolia, which is the tendency to see meaning in meaningless images. We hypothesized that PwPD would exhibit more pareidolic tendencies than healthy adults, and that pareidolia would be associated with other potential markers of VH in PwPD, such as specific demographic and clinical characteristics (e.g., age, disease duration), difficulties under low-contrast conditions, mood, and cognition. We compared performance on two tests of pareidolia to evaluate their relative utility.

Participants and Methods:

25 PwPD and 76 healthy young adults (YA) took an online survey, responding to two tests of pareidolia that we adapted for online administration: the Noise Pareidolia Test (NPT; faces embedded in noise) and the Mooney Face Stimuli for Vision Perception Research (Mooney-VP; faces inferred from fragments). For the NPT, half of the test items were made low contrast, in order to enhance difficulty and preclude ceiling effects; 8% for YA and 43% for PwPD based on our previous work matching proximal contrast across groups. For both tests, responses were recorded as either correct, missed (not identifying a face that was in fact present), or pareidolic (identifying a face where in fact there was none). PwPD also responded to the Non-Motor Symptom Questionnaire, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale, Parkinson Anxiety Scale, Quality of Life in Neurological Conditions (Neuro-QOL) Cognition sub-scale, Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-8 (PDQ-8), and questions about UPE. Independent sample t-tests compared pareidolia scores between groups. Pearson correlations examined the associations between pareidolic responses on the NPT (overall, low-contrast and high-contrast scores) and the Mooney-VP. For PwPD, correlations were also conducted between pareidolia scores and demographic and clinical characteristics, mood, cognition, and quality of life.

Results:

PwPD had higher pareidolia scores on the NPT (overall, low-contrast and high-contrast scores) than YA (all p<.05). For pareidolic responses, there was a significant, positive correlation between the Mooney-VP and the overall, low-contrast, and high-contrast NPT for both PwPD and YA (all p≤.002). For PwPD, higher overall pareidolia scores on the NPT correlated with poorer quality of life scores on the PDQ-8 (r=.44, p=.03) but not with demographic or clinical characteristics, or with scores on the measures of mood or cognition.

Conclusions:

The NPT and Mooney-VP adapted for online administration allowed for quick collection of data on pareidolia, an unusual perceptual experience expected to be a marker of VH in PwPD. For both groups, there was a substantial correlation between pareidolic responses on the two tests, supporting their reciprocal validity. As hypothesized, PwPD exhibited higher pareidolic tendencies than YA. For PwPD, higher pareidolic tendencies were associated with poorer quality of life. We plan to increase the sample of PwPD and also administer the tests to healthy age-matched older adults to examine further variables that may serve as markers for UPE in PwPD.