Neural correlates of the preserved inhibition of return in schizophrenia

PLoS One. 2015 Apr 13;10(4):e0119521. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119521. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Inhibition of return (IOR) is an attentional mechanism that previously has been reported to be either intact or blunted in subjects with schizophrenia (SCZ). In the present study, we explored the neural mechanism of IOR in SCZ by comparing the target-locked N1 and P1 activity evoked by valid-cued trials with that evoked by invalid-cued trials. Twenty-seven schizophrenia patients and nineteen healthy controls participated in a task involving covert orienting of attention with two stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs: 700 ms and 1200 ms) during which 64-channel EEG data were recorded. Behavioral reaction times (RTs) were longer in response to valid-cued trials than to invalid-cued ones, suggesting an intact IOR in SCZ. However, reduced N1 amplitude elicited by valid-cued trials suggested a stronger inhibition of attention from being oriented to a previously cued location, and therefore a relative inhibition of perceptual processing at that location in SCZ. These results indicate that altered N1 activity is associated with the preservation of IOR in SCZ and could be a sensitive marker to track the IOR effect.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attention*
  • Brain / physiopathology*
  • Cues
  • Electroencephalography
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Inhibition, Psychological*
  • Male
  • Orientation
  • Schizophrenia / physiopathology*
  • Schizophrenic Psychology*
  • Young Adult

Associated data

  • Dryad/10.5061/dryad.VG331

Grants and funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81371479, 81171267, 61102020), Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders (13dz2260500, 14K03), Shanghai Municipal Natural Science Foundation (07ZR14093, 11ZR1431600, 134119b0300), Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau Foundation (024036), Shanghai Clinical Center for Mental Disorders (2014), National Key Clinical Disciplines at Shanghai Mental Health Center (Office of Medical Affairs, Ministry of Health, 2011-873; OMA-MH, 2011-873) and Early Psychosis Program of Shanghai Mental Health Center (2013-YJTSZK-05). Yingying Tang is supported by Shanghai Mental Health Center (2014-FX-01). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.