Mismatch negativity in detection of interval duration deviation in schizophrenia

Temporal processing deficits have been noted in behavioral studies assessing patients with schizophrenia. The current study sought to explore the physiology of temporal perception while controlling the effects of motivation, attention and other cognitive processes that may contribute to behavioral measures of temporal processing. Mismatch negativity (MMN) waveforms were measured in response to variations in the temporal parameters of an ongoing train of pure tones. A standard inter-stimulus interval of 400 ms was interrupted, on average, every 20th tone by an inter-stimulus interval of 340 ms. Amplitude of MMN waveform elicited by the temporal deviance was significantly reduced in the schizophrenia group compared with controls (p = 0.016). Results suggest that behavioral difficulties on time processing tasks in schizophrenia may reflect a physiological deficit in temporal perception in this population rather than simply more general difficulties in attention or motivation.