A left temporal lobe impairment of auditory information processing in schizophrenia: an event-related potential study

A measure of auditory prepulse inhibition (PPI) is the reduction of the scalp-recorded P1 event-related potential (ERP) after a sound that is preceded by 100-300 ms by a click as prepulse. This measure of sensory gating was adapted to study the effect of a prepulse on processing tones that were part of a 'go no-go' discrimination. ERPs were recorded at right and left, frontal and temporal sites in groups of patients with schizophrenia (SCH) or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and healthy controls (CON). A prepulse 100 ms but not 500 ms before either tone reduced the P1 ERP amplitude in healthy and OCD subjects but not SCH patients. At frontal and temporal recording sites the P1 amplitude was similar bilaterally in controls but showed a right temporal shift in the SCH patients. If the tone was the 'no-go' tone, the prepulse reduced the N1 amplitude in both the CON and SCH groups. The N1 was similar, bilaterally in controls but again showed a right temporal shift in the SCH group. These results show a reduction of a PPI-like effect on early processing (P1) that is more marked in the left hemisphere of SCH patients and may affect channel selection for processing information (N1) about task-relevant sounds.