Auditory gating deficit to human voices in schizophrenia: a MEG study.
BACKGROUND
Patients with schizophrenia have auditory gating deficits; however, little is known about P50 auditory gating to human voices and its association with clinical symptoms. We examined the functioning of auditory gating and its relationship with the clinical symptoms in schizophrenia.


METHODS
Auditory evoked magnetoencephalography responses to the first and the second voices stimuli were recorded in 22 schizophrenia patients and 28 normal control subjects. The auditory gating ratios of P50m and N100m were investigated and P50m-symptom correlations were also investigated.


RESULTS
Patients showed significantly higher P50m gating ratios to human voices specifically in the left hemisphere. Moreover, patients with higher left P50m gating ratios showed more severe auditory hallucinations, while patients with higher right P50m gating ratios showed more severe negative symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study suggests that schizophrenia patients have auditory gating deficits to human voices, specifically in the left hemisphere and auditory hallucinations of schizophrenia may be associated with sensory overload to human voices in the auditory cortex.
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Yoji
Y
Hirano
Shogo
S
Hirano
Toshihiko
T
Maekawa
Choji
C
Obayashi
Naoya
N
Oribe
Akira
A
Monji
Kiyoto
K
Kasai
Shigenobu
S
Kanba
Toshiaki
T
Onitsuka
D000328:Adult; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055139:Sensory Gating / Q000502:physiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014831:Voice