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Sensory gating and inhibitory function in late-life schizophrenia
J M McDowd1, D L Filion, M J Harris
1Dept. of Psychology, Pomona College, Claremont, CA 91711.
Schizophrenia Bulletin
|January 1, 1993
Summary
Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia and aging overlap. Older schizophrenia patients exhibit combined deficits, worse than normal aging, impacting inhibitory functions.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Gerontology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia and aging share similarities.
- Limited research has explored these overlaps, especially in late-life schizophrenia.
- Inhibitory processing is a key cognitive domain affected in both conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To directly examine cognitive similarities between schizophrenia and aging.
- To investigate the implications of these similarities for late-life schizophrenia.
- To compare inhibitory deficits in young controls, older controls, and older schizophrenia patients.
Main Methods:
- Review of studies on prepulse inhibition, habituation, latent inhibition, and negative priming.
- Presentation of new data comparing young controls, older controls, and late-life schizophrenia patients.
- Assessment of performance on prepulse inhibition and negative priming tasks.
Main Results:
- Both schizophrenia patients and older adults demonstrated inhibitory deficits compared to young controls.
- Older schizophrenia patients showed greater negative priming deficits than older adults.
- Evidence suggests an additive effect of schizophrenia and aging on inhibitory dysfunction.
Conclusions:
- Schizophrenia and aging share common patterns of cognitive deficits, particularly in inhibitory processing.
- Late-life schizophrenia patients experience exacerbated inhibitory dysfunction due to combined aging and illness effects.
- Further research is needed to understand and address these combined cognitive challenges.