title: Abnormalities of auditory event-related potentials in students with high scores on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire.
abstract: Some auditory event-related potential (ERP) abnormalities characterize both patients with schizophrenia and subjects with schizotypal personality disorder. It was therefore hypothesized that subjects from the community with schizotypal traits might also present ERP abnormalities. In this study, we compared auditory ERP latencies and amplitudes in 13 subjects with high (H-SPQ) and 12 subjects with low (L-SPQ) scores on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), selected from 198 Tunisian students. Auditory ERPs were recorded at Fz, Cz, and Pz, with a standard oddball paradigm. Smaller P300 amplitudes and delayed P300 latencies were found in H-SPQ compared with L-SPQ participants. Confirming previous reports, our results suggest that reduced P300 amplitudes and delayed P300 latencies may be considered as vulnerability markers of the schizophrenia spectrum in nonclinical subjects from the community.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Recherche en Psychiatrie, Faculté de Médecine de Monastir, 5019 Monastir, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gassab
authors.forename: Anwar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mechri
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dogui
authors.forename: Lotfi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gaha
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: d'Amato
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dalery
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saoud
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300 / Q000502:physiology; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires