Early auditory deficits in schizophrenia

描述（由申请人提供）：认知功能障碍是精神分裂症的标志。然而，基本感觉加工的潜在缺陷是导致高阶加工缺陷的一个因素。在听觉系统中，有证据表明存在功能不同的腹侧和背侧通路，分别控制声音对象识别（“什么”）和声音定位（“在哪里”）。被称为失配负性（MMN）的事件相关电位已被用于声音对象识别的索引。当在一系列标准音调中插入一个异常音调时，健康受试者会被强烈地激发出来。在精神分裂症中，MMN显著减弱，这为早期听觉处理缺陷提供了强有力的证据，即“什么”通路损伤。据笔者所知，目前还没有研究显示精神分裂症的“什么”和“在哪里”通路都存在缺陷。在拟议的研究中，将通过行为和电生理任务评估精神分裂症患者腹侧和背侧通路的完整性。对于背侧或“where”通路，将进行声音定位实验。对于腹侧或“什么”通路，我们将进行声音物体识别实验。随着我们对精神分裂症中听觉系统缺陷的具体性质的理解的增加，对这种疾病的诊断、治疗和病因学理解的途径也将增加。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cognitive dysfunction is a hallmark of schizophrenia. However, underlying deficits in basic sensory processing are a contributing factor to higher order processing deficits. In the auditory system, there is evidence for functionally distinct ventral and dorsal pathways, governing sound object recognition ('what') and sound localization ('where'), respectively. The event-related potential known as mismatch negativity (MMN) has been used to index sound object recognition. It is robustly elicited in healthy subjects when a deviant tone is interjected in a train of standard tones. In schizophrenia, the MMN is significantly attenuated, providing strong evidence for deficits in early auditory processing, namely, 'what' pathway impairment. To this author's knowledge, no research has yet shown deficits in both the 'what' and 'where' pathways in schizophrenia. In the proposed study, integrity of the ventral and dorsal pathways in schizophrenia patients will be assessed through behavioral and electrophysiological tasks. For the dorsal, or 'where' pathway, a sound localization experiment will be conducted. For the ventral, or 'what' pathway, we will conduct a sound object recognition experiment. As our understanding of the specific nature of auditory system deficits in schizophrenia increases, so will avenues for diagnosis, treatment, and etiological understanding of the illness.