Acoustic evoked response examinations on schizophrenic patients
Abstract
At the Psychiatric Clinic of Szeged we began a comprehensive investigation with the aim of etiological sub-grouping of schizophrenia.
As work hypothesis we treat schizophrenia as a progressive neurodevelopmental, multi-factorial long latency period disorder with notable genetic definiteness whose development and existence also significantly involves the influence of the environment. This disorder is heterogeneous clinically and etiologically. Our aim is to build sub-groups of same etiological origin, with the help of applying the results of expansive experiments according to the diverse phenomenological appearance of the disordered group.
On the Ear-Nose-Throat Clinic we began the electrophysiological experiments with double goals. Firstly we try to identify our patients’ information-processing disorder’s neurobiological mechanism (PPI, P50, MMN, P100, N100, N200, P300) with the help of the work and results of Roth and Canon (1972) and the knowledge that emerged since then. On the other hand we would like to fine-tune our knowledge of sub-functions by developing specific experimental paradigms.
Our group tracks by these systematic experiments the processing of auditory stimuli from the sub-cortical phases (BERA) through the detailed inspection of sensomotory gating (PPI/F: Pre-Pulse Inhibition and Facilitation, P50- paradigm), the early precognitive evaluation and more complex representations (MMN, N200) until the selectivity of attention and the arrival to the working memory (P300)
The aim of this presentation is to review and evaluate the electrophysiological data collected so long.
