title: Abnormal neural synchrony in schizophrenia.
abstract: Schizophrenia has been conceptualized as a failure of cognitive integration, and abnormalities in neural circuitry (particularly inhibitory interneurons) have been proposed as a basis for this disorder. We used measures of phase locking and phase coherence in the scalp-recorded electroencephalogram to examine the synchronization of neural circuits in schizophrenia. Compared with matched control subjects, schizophrenia patients demonstrated: (1) absence of the posterior component of the early visual gamma band response to Gestalt stimuli; (2) abnormalities in the topography, latency, and frequency of the anterior component of this response; (3) delayed onset of phase coherence changes; and (4) the pattern of anterior-posterior coherence increases in response to Gestalt stimuli found in controls was replaced by a pattern of interhemispheric coherence decreases in patients. These findings support the hypothesis that schizophrenia is associated with impaired neural circuitry demonstrated as a failure of gamma band synchronization, especially in the 40 Hz range.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School/Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Brockton, Massachusetts 02301, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Nestor
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Niznikiewicz
authors.forename: Dean F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Salisbury
authors.forename: Martha E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Shenton
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: McCarley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001519:Behavior; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010507:Periodicity; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014796:Visual Perception