Brain imaging: evoked potential, quantitative EEG and SPECT abnormalities in schizophrenia

The case of a nineteen-year-old female with a three-year history of psychiatric symptomatology clinically consistent with the DSM-III-R diagnosis of schizophrenia is presented. Neurophysiologic assessment using topographic brain mapping demonstrated auditory evoked potential P300 asymmetry with left temporal inactivation and increased latency, while EEG frequency analysis was remarkable for left hemispheric slow wave predominance as well as increased left temporal beta activity. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (HMPAO) in the same patient revealed radionucleide uptake reductions in the frontotemporal cortical regions. The clinical presentation of schizophrenia in the context of these imaging correlations is reviewed.