Magnetoencephalography reveals an increased non-target P3a, but not target P3b, that is associated with high non-clinical psychosocial deficits

Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. 2018 Jan 30:271:1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2017.11.012. Epub 2017 Nov 21.

Abstract

Auditory processing deficits are frequently identified in autism and schizophrenia, and the two disorders have been shown to share psychosocial difficulties. This study used magnetoencephalography to investigate auditory processing differences for those with a high degree of a non-clinical autistic and schizotypal trait phenotype, Social Disorganisation (SD). Participants were 18 low (9 female) and 19 high (9 female) SD scorers (18-40 years) who completed a three-stimulus auditory oddball paradigm of speech sounds (standard: 100ms 'o', deviant: 150ms 'o', novel: 150ms 'e'). Spatio-temporal cluster analysis revealed increased amplitude for the high SD group in a left (p = 0.006) and a right (p = 0.020) hemisphere cluster in response to the novel non-target. No cluster differences were found in response to the target deviant. These findings suggest that those with a high degree of the SD phenotype recruit more cortical resources when processing unattended, novel speech stimuli, which may lead to psychosocial deficits.

Keywords: Auditory oddball; Autism; P300; Schizotypy; Social Disorganisation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Anomie*
  • Autistic Disorder / diagnosis
  • Autistic Disorder / physiopathology*
  • Autistic Disorder / psychology*
  • Event-Related Potentials, P300 / physiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Magnetoencephalography / methods*
  • Male
  • Schizophrenia / diagnosis
  • Schizophrenia / physiopathology*
  • Schizophrenic Psychology*
  • Spatio-Temporal Analysis
  • Young Adult