ERPs in schizophrenia and alcohol dependence

描述(由申请人提供)： 酒精依赖(AD)或滥用(AA)的估计终生流行率 精神分裂症患者(SZ)的比例(34%)比美国人口(13%)高得惊人。此外，合并AA或AD的SZ患者表现出治疗并发症和较差的结果。然而，目前尚不清楚为什么SZ的酒精障碍患病率比普通人群高出近三倍；也不知道这些双重诊断(DD)患者是否表现出比非AD精神分裂症患者更多、更严重的病理生理缺陷。SZ患者的酒精依赖可能反映了一种特殊的AD易感性，事实上，这种共病与更明显的病理生理有关，而不是单独在AD或SZ看到的。来自家庭研究的结果表明，SZ和AA/AD可能具有共同的脆弱性，或者双重独立的脆弱性可能是这种形式的精神共病的基础。对这种共病的功能病理生理基础知之甚少。在这些并存的SZ患者可能具有的脆弱性中，包括与SZ或AD独立相关的心理生理学缺陷(例如，P50和听觉和视觉P300)。这项研究的目的是确定与这种双重诊断相关的心理生理缺陷。 对每种疾病敏感和特异的电生理措施。我们预测，最近被诊断为AD的戒断性SZ患者不仅会表现出与SZ广泛相关的心理生理缺陷，而且还会表现出经常与AD相关的心理生理缺陷。在这些组中确定这些措施的功能缺陷将有助于识别表型亚型、病因机制和潜在的治疗靶点。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The estimated lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence (AD) or abuse (AA) among schizophrenics (SZ) is alarmingly high (34%) compared to that of the US population (13%). In addition, people with SZ who are comorbid for AA or AD exhibit treatment complications and poor outcomes. However, it is unknown why the prevalence of alcohol disorders is nearly three times higher in SZ than in the general population; nor is it known whether these dually diagnosed (DD) patients show additional and more profound pathophysiological deficits compared to non-AD schizophrenics. It is possible that alcohol dependence in SZ patients reflects a specific vulnerability to develop AD and that this comorbidity is, in fact, associated with more pronounced pathophysiology than seen in AD or SZ alone. Findings from family studies indicate that SZ and AA/AD may share common vulnerabilities or that dual independent vulnerabilities may underlie this form of psychiatric comorbidity. Very little is known about functional pathophysiological substrates of this comorbidity. Among the vulnerabilities that these comorbid SZ patients may have are psychohysiological deficits (e.g., P50, and auditory & visual P300) that have been independently associated with either SZ or AD. The purpose of this study is to determine the psychophysiological deficits associated with this dual diagnosis using well characterized electrophysiological measures that are sensitive and specific to each illness. We predict that abstinent SZ patients with a recent comorbid diagnosis of AD will not only manifest psychophysiological deficits widely associated with SZ, but will also show the psychophysiological deficits frequently associated with AD. Characterizing functional deficits across these measures in these groups will contribute to the identification of phenotypic subtypes, etiological mechanisms, and potential targets of treatment.