Electrophysiological assessment methodology of sensory processing dysfunction in schizophrenia and dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease impacts on various sensory processings are extensively reviewed in the present publication. This article describes aspects of a research project whose aim is to delineate the neurobiology that may underlie Social Withdrawal in Alzheimer's disease, Schizophrenia and Major Depression. This is a European-funded IMI 2 project, identified as PRISM (Psychiatric Ratings using Intermediate Stratified Markers). This paper focuses specifically on the selected electrophysiological paradigms chosen based on a comprehensive review of all relevant literature and practical constraints. The choice of the electrophysiological biomarkers were fundamentality based their metrics and capacity to discriminate between populations. The selected electrophysiological paradigms are resting state EEG, auditory mismatch negativity, auditory and visual based oddball paradigms, facial emotion processing ERP's and auditory steady-state response. The primary objective is to study the effect of social withdrawal on various biomarkers and endophenotypes found altered in the target populations. This has never been studied in relationship to social withdrawal, an important component of CNS diseases.

Differential effects of NMDA antagonists on high frequency and gamma EEG oscillations in a neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia.

Neuroanatomical, electrophysiological and behavioural abnormalities following timed prenatal methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) treatment in rats model changes observed in schizophrenia. In particular, MAM treatment on gestational day 17 (E17) preferentially disrupts limbic-cortical circuits, and is a promising animal model of schizophrenia. The hypersensitivity of this model to the NMDA receptor antagonist-induced hyperactivity has been proposed to mimic the increase in sensitivity observed in schizophrenia patients following PCP and Ketamine administration. However, how this increase in sensitivity in both patients and animals translates to differences in EEG oscillatory activity is unknown. In this study we have shown that MAM-E17 treated animals have an increased response to the hyperlocomotor and wake promoting effects of Ketamine, PCP, and MK801 but not to the competitive antagonist SDZ 220,581. These behavioural changes were accompanied by altered EEG responses to the NMDAR antagonists, most evident in the gamma and high frequency (HFO) ranges; altered sensitivity of these neuronal network oscillations in MAM-exposed rats is regionally selective, and reflects altered interneuronal function in this neurodevelopmental model.