title: Language processing abnormalities in adolescents with psychotic-like experiences: an event related potential study.
abstract: Language impairments are a well established finding in patients with schizophrenia and in individuals at-risk for psychosis. A growing body of research has revealed shared risk factors between individuals with psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) from the general population and patients with schizophrenia. In particular, adolescents with PLEs have been shown to be at an increased risk for later psychosis. However, to date there has been little information published on electrophysiological correlates of language comprehension in this at-risk group. A 64 channel EEG recorded electrical activity while 37 (16 At-Risk; 21 Controls) participants completed the British Picture Vocabulary Scale (BPVS-II) receptive vocabulary task. The P300 component was examined as a function of language comprehension. The at-risk group were impaired behaviourally on receptive language and were characterised by a reduction in P300 amplitude relative to the control group. The results of this study reveal electrophysiological evidence for receptive language deficits in adolescents with PLEs, suggesting that the earliest neurobiological changes underlying psychosis may be apparent in the adolescent period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland. jennifer.b.murphy@alumni.nuim.ie
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Mathieu M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Blanchard
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rawdon
authors.forename: Fergal
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kavanagh
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kelleher
authors.forename: Mary C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Richard A P
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Roche
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cannon
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D014825:Vocabulary