The prediction of abnormal evoked potentials in schizophrenic patients by means of symptom pattern

The case notes of 23 schizophrenic patients who participated in a study of somato-sensory cortical evoked responses were examined for descriptions of the clinical features of their mental state at the time of first illness or most recent relapse. A comparison of syndrome scores derived from Present State Examination with those derived from case notes showed that the latter was a reliable method of mental state description for the purposes of this study. A group of syndromes similar to that described in electrodermal research was identified from the case note review and found to be highly correlated with the presence of an abnormal response in the somato-sensory evoked potentials study.