Center for Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CNSR) and Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CINS), Faculty of Health Sciences, Copenhagen University, University Psychiatric Center Glostrup, Glostrup, Denmark.
Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2011 Aug;14(7):913-25. doi: 10.1017/S1461145711000034. Epub 2011 Feb 4.
Deficits in information processing appear to be core features in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) and habituation of the startle reflex are operational measures of early information processing. Impaired PPI in schizophrenia has been replicated in many studies and is regarded as an endophenotype for schizophrenia. However, reports on the stability of PPI over a longer period of time are lacking, both for patients with schizophrenia and for healthy subjects. The current study examined 25 initially drug-naive, first-episode schizophrenia patients and 23 healthy matched controls. Three PPI measures [stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) 30, 60, 120 ms] and habituation were assessed at baseline, and again after 6 yr. Sixteen patients and 17 healthy controls completed the study, and 13 patients and 17 healthy controls were included in the final analysis. The schizophrenia patients had PPI deficits compared to controls at baseline. After 6 yr, no significant group differences were found. PPI had increased significantly in the patients and had decreased significantly in controls. In addition, patients showed significantly less habituation than controls while habituation did not change in patients or controls. The present results show that PPI in drug-naive, first-episode schizophrenia patients can improve significantly over time. As PPI increased in patients over the same period that it decreased in controls, it is likely that the increase was caused by disease-related factors such as disease process, clinical state, or medication.
信息处理缺陷似乎是精神分裂症发病机制的核心特征。 前脉冲抑制（PPI）和惊跳反射的习惯化是早期信息处理的操作测量方法。 精神分裂症患者的 PPI 受损已在许多研究中得到复制，并被认为是精神分裂症的内表型。 然而，关于 PPI 在较长时间内的稳定性的报告，无论是对于精神分裂症患者还是健康受试者，都缺乏报道。 当前的研究检查了 25 名最初未经药物治疗的首发精神分裂症患者和 23 名健康匹配的对照者。 在基线时评估了三种 PPI 测量值[刺激起始时的异步性（SOA）30、60、120ms]和习惯化，然后在 6 年后再次评估。 16 名患者和 17 名健康对照者完成了研究，13 名患者和 17 名健康对照者被纳入最终分析。 与对照组相比，精神分裂症患者在基线时存在 PPI 缺陷。 6 年后，未发现组间存在显著差异。 PPI 在患者中显著增加，而在对照组中显著减少。 此外，与对照组相比，患者的习惯化明显减少，而患者或对照组的习惯化没有变化。 目前的结果表明，未经药物治疗的首发精神分裂症患者的 PPI 可以随着时间的推移显著改善。 由于患者的 PPI 在同期内增加，而对照组的 PPI 减少，因此增加可能是由疾病相关因素引起的，例如疾病进程、临床状态或药物治疗。
