title: Electrophysiological evidence for altered early cerebral somatosensory signal processing in schizophrenia.
abstract: Various studies have indicated an impairment of sensory signal processing in schizophrenic patients. Anatomical and functional imaging studies have indicated morphological and metabolic abnormalities in the thalamus in schizophrenia. Other results give evidence for an additional role of cortical dysfunction in sensory processing in schizophrenia. Advanced analysis of human median nerve somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) reveals a brief oscillatory burst of low-amplitude and high-frequency activity ( approximately 600 Hz), the so-called high frequency oscillations (HFOs). The present study explores the behavior of HFOs in a cohort of schizophrenic patients in comparison to a group of controls. HFOs in the group of patients appeared with a delayed latency. In the low-frequency part of the SEPs an increase in amplitude was found. These results are interpreted to reflect a lack of somatosensory inhibition in the somatosensory pathway, either at a thalamic or a cortical level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Aachen, Aachen, Germany. Till.Waberski@post.rwth-aachen.de
authors.forename: Till D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Waberski
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Norra
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kawohl
authors.forename: Dinah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thyerlei
authors.forename: Dorothee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hock
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Klostermann
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Curio
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Buchner
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hoff
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gobbelé
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000502:physiology