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Psychophysiological reactivity in high-risk children
Insights
Offspring of schizophrenic patients did not show increased galvanic skin response (GSR) to tones. High-risk children were less reactive to meaningful stimuli, suggesting developmental lags, not hyperactivity.
Area of Science:
- Psychophysiology
- Developmental Psychology
- Schizophrenia Research
Background:
- Previous studies reported heightened autonomic responsivity in children at high risk for schizophrenia.
- Galvanic skin response (GSR) and recovery times were key indicators in prior research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate autonomic responsivity differences in offspring of schizophrenic patients compared to controls.
- To examine GSR to auditory stimuli and emotional discrimination using the Information Detection Test.
Main Methods:
- Assessed galvanic skin response (GSR) to auditory tones in high-risk and control children.
- Administered the Information Detection Test to compare GSR to meaningful versus neutral stimuli.
Main Results:
- No evidence of autonomic hyperactivity (GSR to tones) was found in high-risk subjects.
- High-risk children showed a trend towards slower GSR recovery, contrary to previous findings.
- Index subjects exhibited reduced reactivity to meaningful stimuli and poorer discrimination between stimulus types.
Conclusions:
- Findings do not support the learning theory of schizophrenia.
- Developmental lags in high-risk children may underlie observed psychophysiological differences.
- Autonomic responsivity patterns in offspring of schizophrenic patients may differ from prior reports.
Abstract:
This study was designed to test and extend previous reports of differences in autonomic responsivity between offspring of schizophrenic patients and control subjects. In specific, greater galvanic skin response (GSR) to stimuli and quicker GSR recovery have been reported in high-risk children. In the present study we found no evidence of autonomic hyperactivity, as evidenced by GSR to tones, in high-risk as compared to control subjects. There was some trend for index subjects to show slower GSR recoveries than control subjects, which is opposite to findings from earlier studies. Subjects were also presented with the Information Detection Test, in which GSR responses to emotionally meaningful vs. neutral stimuli were compared. Index children were less reactive than control subjects to the meaningful stimuli, and they discriminated between meaningful and neutral stimuli more poorly. Our findings do not confirm the learning theory of schizophrenia suggested by Mednick, but do suggest that developmental lags in high-risk as compared to control children may contribute to the psychophysiological differences that we found.