Effect of attention on frontal distribution of delta activity and cerebral metabolic rate in schizophrenia

Schizophr Res. 1989 Nov-Dec;2(6):439-48. doi: 10.1016/0920-9964(89)90012-1.

Abstract

15 patients with schizophrenia and nine normal volunteers had 32 channel topographic EEG recorded for spectral analysis during the uptake of 18-F-deoxyglucose (FDG) for positron emission tomography (PET). Both patients and controls performed the Continuous Performance Test, a visual vigilance task, during FDG uptake. EEG was also obtained during an initial pre-FDG resting period. Each EEG epoch was individually inspected for eye movement artifacts. Analysis confirmed increased delta activity in the frontal region of patients with schizophrenia in comparison to normal controls, and a significant correlation between increased frontal delta and relative reduction in frontal lobe metabolism among patients with schizophrenia. This finding of increased delta is consistent with PET, blood flow and topographic EEG studies of schizophrenia, suggesting reduced frontal activity.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Arousal / physiology
  • Attention / physiology*
  • Blood Glucose / metabolism*
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging*
  • Brain Mapping
  • Delta Rhythm*
  • Deoxyglucose / analogs & derivatives
  • Deoxyglucose / metabolism
  • Electroencephalography / instrumentation
  • Energy Metabolism / physiology*
  • Female
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
  • Frontal Lobe / diagnostic imaging
  • Frontal Lobe / physiopathology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology
  • Schizophrenia / diagnostic imaging
  • Schizophrenia / physiopathology*
  • Schizophrenic Psychology*
  • Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / instrumentation
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed*

Substances

  • Blood Glucose
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
  • Deoxyglucose