Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 7, 2026
13:09
Using Brain Activation (nir-HEG/Q-EEG) and Execution Measures (CPTs) in a ADHD Assessment Protocol
Published on: April 1, 2018
Probing attentional dysfunctions in schizophrenia: Startle modification during a continuous performance test
Erin A Hazlett1, Michael E Dawson, Anne M Schell
1Department of Psychiatry, Box 1505, The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA. erin.hazlett@mssm.edu
Psychophysiology
|February 20, 2008
Summary
Schizophrenia patients show early attentional processing deficits, indicated by impaired startle eyeblink modification. However, their automatic and later attentional processes remain intact during a Continuous Performance Test.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Schizophrenia is often associated with cognitive deficits, particularly in attentional processing.
- Understanding these deficits is crucial for developing effective interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate early and later stages of attentional processing in medicated schizophrenia outpatients.
- To examine startle eyeblink modification as a measure of attentional allocation.
Main Methods:
- Assessed startle eyeblink modification in 20 schizophrenia patients and 18 controls.
- Utilized a memory-load Continuous Performance Test with auditory prepulses at 120 ms and 1200 ms.
- Measured responses to cues and noncues, with and without distracting stimuli.
Main Results:
- Schizophrenia patients exhibited impaired early attentional resource allocation (120 ms cue prepulse).
- Patients showed intact automatic attention and later modality-specific attention (120 ms noncue prepulse and 1200 ms prepulses).
- Patients demonstrated enhanced startle inhibition with distracting stimuli during early processing, unlike controls.
Conclusions:
- Medicated schizophrenia outpatients display deficits in early, controlled attentional processing.
- Automatic and later stages of attention appear preserved in this patient group.
- Startle eyeblink modification is a sensitive indicator of attentional dysfunction in schizophrenia.
