title: Eyeblink conditioning deficits indicate timing and cerebellar abnormalities in schizophrenia.
abstract: Accumulating evidence indicates that individuals with schizophrenia manifest abnormalities in structures (cerebellum and basal ganglia) and neurotransmitter systems (dopamine) linked to internal-timing processes. A single-cue tone delay eyeblink conditioning paradigm comprised of 100 learning and 50 extinction trials was used to examine cerebellar timing circuits in 13 medicated patients with schizophrenia and 13 age- and sex-matched controls. Patients with schizophrenia showed impaired learning of the conditioned response compared to controls and also greater within-subject variability in the timing of their responses. These findings are consistent with models of schizophrenia in which timing deficits underlie information-processing abnormalities and clinical features of the disorder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Indiana University, 1101 East Tenth Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Kieffaber
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Carroll
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Vohs
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Tracy
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shekhar
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Steinmetz
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Hetrick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000502:physiology*; D003215:Conditioning, Eyelid / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*