Eye-blink conditioning deficits indicate temporal processing abnormalities in schizophrenia

SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH

卷:111

Article

Bolbecker, Amanda R.^1,3  Mehta, Crystal S.^1,3  Edwards, Chad R.¹  Steinmetz, Joseph E.^4,5  O'Donnell, Brian F.^1,2,3  Hetrick, William P.^1,2,3 

[1] Indiana Univ, Dept Psychol & Brain Sci, Bloomington, IN 47405 USA

[2] Indiana Univ, Sch Med, Dept Psychiat, Indianapolis, IN 46202 USA

[3] Larue D Carter Mem Hosp, Indianapolis, IN USA

[4] Univ Kansas, Dept Psychol Mol Biosci, Lawrence, KS 66045 USA

[5] Univ Kansas, Dept Mol Biosci, Lawrence, KS 66045 USA

关键词: Schizophrenia;    Cerebellum;    Cognitive;    Psychosis;    Eye-blink conditioning;    Timing;    Delusions;    Hallucinations;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.schres.2009.03.016

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Theoretical models suggest that symptoms of schizophrenia may be due to a dysfunctional modulatory system associated with the cerebellum. Although it has long been known that the cerebellum plays a critical role in associative learning and motor timing, recent evidence suggests that it also plays a role in nonmotor psychological processes. Indeed, cerebellar anomalies in schizophrenia have been linked to cognitive dysfunction and poor long-term outcome. To test the hypothesis that schizophrenia is associated with cerebellar dysfunction, cerebellar-dependent, delay eye-blink conditioning was examined in 62 individuals with schizophrenia and 62 age-matched non-psychiatric comparison subjects. The conditioned stimulus was a 400 ms tone, which co-terminated with a 50 ms unconditioned stimulus air puff. A subset of participants (25 with schizophrenia and 29 controls) also completed the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence. Participants with schizophrenia exhibited lower rates of eye-blink conditioning, including earlier (less adaptively timed) conditioned response latencies. Cognitive functioning was correlated with the rate of conditioned responsing in the non-psychiatric comparison subjects but not among those with schizophrenia, and the magnitude of these correlations significantly differed between groups. These findings are consistent with models of schizophrenia in which disruptions within the cortico-cerebellar-thalamic-cortical (CCTC) brain circuit are postulated to underlie the cognitive fragmentation that characterizes the disorder. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

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