Visual mismatch negativity among patients with schizophrenia.

Full Abstract

Event related potentials (ERPs) provide an insight into sensory and cognitive processes in health and disease. Studies of an ERP negative amplitude deflection elicited by a change in a series of auditory stimuli is known as mismatch negativity (MMN). The generation of MMN is impaired in schizophrenia. Its deficit is associated with lower everyday functioning and may be also interpreted as the marker of progression in schizophrenia. MMN elicited by visual stimuli (vMMN) was described by several research teams, but it has not been investigated in schizophrenia as yet. Using a motion-direction paradigm, we elicited visual MMN in 24 patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. The vMMN was computed as differences in areas under curve of visual ERPs to standard and deviant motion-direction stimuli recorded from midline derivations at the interval of 100-200 ms. They were compared between groups of patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. The significantly smaller vMMN indicated an impaired generation of mismatch negativity in patients with schizophrenia. In secondary analyses there was an association of vMMN impairment among patients with higher dose of medication, lower level of functioning and the presence of deficit syndrome. This impairment appears analogous to the impairment of MMN in the auditory domain and is probably related to early visual information processing. Its relationship to cognitive functioning of patients with schizophrenia deserves further attention.

Author information

Author/s: Urban, Ales (A); Kremlácek, Jan (J); Masopust, Jirí (J); Libiger, Jan (J);

Affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, Charles University in Prague and Faculty Hospital Hradec Králové, Czech Republic. a.urban(-atsign-)centrum.cz

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Schizophrenia research (Schizophr Res), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jul; vol 102 (issue 1-3) : pp 320-8

Dates: Created 2008/06/24; Completed 2008/09/30;

PMID: 18472402, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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