P3 in schizophrenia is affected by stimulus modality, response requirements, medication status, and negative symptoms

A. Pfefferbaum, J. M. Ford, P. M. White and W. T. Roth
Veterans Administration Medical Center, Palo Alto, Calif 94304.

Eighteen schizophrenics who were not taking medication, 13 schizophrenics who were taking medication, and 37 age-matched controls were tested with event-related potential paradigms designed to elicit P3 response automatically or effortfully (ie, with a choice reaction time task). Electroencephalograms were recorded from the 19 standard 10-20 electrode sites. Compared with controls, both groups of schizophrenics had reduced P3 amplitudes for both effortful and automatic paradigms. P3 latencies were delayed relative to controls for the medication-taking schizophrenics in the effortful paradigms. Negative symptoms derived from the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale within 1 week of event-related potential testing correlated negatively with both auditory and visual P3 amplitude in the subjects who were not taking medication. There was no evidence that P3 is smaller over left temporal electrode sites in schizophrenics, as has been reported by others. P3 amplitude reduction in schizophrenia is a robust psychobiological phenomenon that is present regardless of medication status or task demands.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Neurophysiological Endophenotypes of Schizophrenia: The Viability of Selected Candidate Measures
Turetsky et al.
Schizophr Bull 2007;33:69-94.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Impaired P3 Generation Reflects High-Level and Progressive Neurocognitive Dysfunction in Schizophrenia
van der Stelt et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2004;61:237-248.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

P300 and Genetic Risk for Schizophrenia
Winterer et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003;60:1158-1167.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Association Between Smaller Left Posterior Superior Temporal Gyrus Volume on Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Smaller Left Temporal P300 Amplitude in First-Episode Schizophrenia
McCarley et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2002;59:321-331.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Impairment of willed actions and use of advance information for movement preparation in schizophrenia
Fuller and Jahanshahi
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 1999;66:502-509.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Left Temporal Lobe Dysfunction in Schizophrenia: Event-Related Potential and Behavioral Evidence From Phonetic and Tonal Dichotic Listening Tasks
Bruder et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1999;56:267-276.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

First-Episode Schizophrenic Psychosis Differs From First-Episode Affective Psychosis and Controls in P300 Amplitude Over Left Temporal Lobe
Salisbury et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 1998;55:173-180.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT