Interactive ERP recording increases the amplitude of the endogenous P300 peak in schizophrenia

The P300 is a long-latency cognitive event-related potential (ERP) elicited by the presentation of relevant target stimuli. Unfortunately, the standard ERP recording technique takes no account of the background EEG during stimulus presentation. However, a recently developed technique (interactive recording) controls for variability in the EEG by applying stimuli only when the background EEG is in a predetermined state. The use of the interactive technique has led to significant changes in the P300 amplitude in control studies. Since P300 amplitude data are commonly used in schizophrenia research, and have previously been associated with cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, we studied the effects of interactive recording in a schizophrenia population. The same ERP paradigm was implemented twice for each subject, using both standard ERP and the interactive recording techniques. There was a significant increase in the amplitude of the P300 peak with interactive recording, although no significant change in latency. The results indicate that the effect of background EEG may need to be taken into account when conducting general ERP-based studies in schizophrenia. The results also indicate that the method may be used to investigate the effects of EEG variation on ERP values and, by implication, on cognitive processes. In particular, the recognition of EEG states that lead to a higher amplitude ERP value may aid in the further development of EEG investigations of schizophrenia. A similar development is indicated between cognitive research in schizophrenia and the sub-second brain-states in which cognitive function may be reflected.