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Distractor filtering and its electrophysiological correlates in schizophrenia
Melinda Becske1, Csilla Marosi1, Hajnalka Molnár1
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Summary
Patients with schizophrenia exhibit impaired working memory and attention due to inefficient processing of distracting information. This study reveals weaker cognitive control and altered brain activity patterns in patients compared to controls.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Schizophrenia is associated with deficits in working memory (WM) and heightened distractibility.
- Theta synchronization and alpha event-related desynchronization (ERD) are neural markers linked to cognitive control and attention during WM tasks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate neural mechanisms underlying working memory deficits and distractibility in schizophrenia.
- To compare EEG-based neural activity patterns between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls during a WM task with distractors.
Main Methods:
- A modified Sternberg WM task was administered to 35 patients with schizophrenia and 39 healthy controls.
- High-density EEG was recorded, and event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) in theta and fast alpha frequency bands was analyzed during encoding and retention phases.
Main Results:
- Patients with schizophrenia demonstrated poorer WM performance and increased distractibility, evidenced by lower hit rates and more commission errors.
- While both groups showed condition-dependent theta synchronization, only controls exhibited salience-modulated theta.
- Fast alpha ERD was less modulated by distractor salience in patients compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- Patients with schizophrenia process salient and non-salient distractors less effectively, indicating weaker cognitive control.
- These neural processing differences may contribute to the compromised WM performance and increased distractibility observed in schizophrenia.
